Johan Djourou optimistic over injury

Arsenal defender Johan Djourou hopes that his shoulder injury won't rule him out for the rest of the season, as first feared. The Swiss defender, 24, sustained the injury after a clash with teammate Bacary Sagna in Arsenal's 2-0 FA Cup defeat at Manchester United.

Manager Arsene Wenger initially stated that Djourou had dislocated his shoulder and would be out for the season but an assessment by the Swiss FA suggests otherwise, with a specialist's judgement to delay a decision on an operation giving Djourou hope that he can play in the Gunners' title run in.

"In my heart, I was initially hopeful because they said to me that I didn't have a rupture and nothing was broken so I was thinking: 'Brilliant, I can get back as quickly as possible,'" he told The Guardian. "But then we come to reality. When you dislocate a shoulder, it takes a lot of time. The thing with shoulders is that if you don't operate and I played in a month, it could come out again."

After a demoralising three weeks in which Arsenal have been eliminated from 3 out 4 competitions, Djourou still held hope of lifting the Premier League title in May: "We haven't won for so long but we have got the quality and if we could get that first trophy, it could be the start of something new."

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