Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that he is "devastated" by the loss of Danny Welbeck, but refused to blame Bacary Sagna for the tackle which ruled his striker out of action.
The Englishman is expected to miss the next nine months after undergoing surgery on "significant cartilage damage" in his right knee.
Welbeck suffered the injury during Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last weekend following an innocuous coming-together with former Gunners right-back Sagna.
Wenger was not willing to point the finger of blame, and instead wished his own player a speedy recovery in the hope that he can make a similar impact to the one witnessed this term when returning from an identical layoff.
"We're all devastated, and Danny even more so," he told the club's official website. "We can only feel sad and support Danny now in order to get him back. It was basically from an anonymous tackle. The difference between the tackle and the severity of the injury is baffling. We don't understand that but we have to accept the verdict and we have to live with it.
"Danny has to deal with it unfortunately. We just have to give him the maximum support we can and show him that we trust he can come back. He scored goals and when he came on he had an impact. I pushed him in and out of the team because I knew he'd been out for a year.
"Sometimes for the big games I kept him out to recover from the efforts he has made. Sometimes people accused me of being too cautious but I knew that he did not play for a year and the intensity of the Premier League is so exceptional that you have to be cautious. The injury was accidental. I don't think there's anyone to blame, not our opponents or medical staff. It was completely an accident."
Welbeck returned from a 10-month absence in February, scoring five goals in 15 appearances prior to his latest injury blow.
Daniel Lewis
