It didn’t take long for Belgian International Thomas Vermaelen to become a favourite amongst Arsenal supporters. Rock solid at the back and 100% commitment in all the games played this season for the Gunners.

Speaking about the leg fracture scare after the Aston Villa game, the 24-year old confirmed that he was delighted to know he could face Manchester United after that but also added how the injury is still there.

On the injury and Arsenal’s title hopes, Vermaelen said:

It turned out that I could play against Manchester United, but after that game I had some more problems, so I went for another scan.

We could see then that there was a big bruise on the bone, and that’s all – so it is painful but that can be controlled with medicine and when it is not broken, you can’t do too much wrong.

It is not a big problem to play – yes it is still there and will take some time to go away, but it is not dangerous.

We will keep fighting to the end as a team, that is all we can do. The important thing is to stay together. When you lose, it is easy to say it is his fault or his fault, but I think it is important to remain as a team and a unit.

We will battle until the last moment of the season.