London: Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out of Tuesday's Champions League, last 16 second leg tie against Porto at the Emirates stadium with a hamstring problem, manager Arsene Wenger said. The Spanish midfielder suffered a recurrence of the injury he first sustained in December after scoring in Saturday's Premier League win over Burnley.
Arsenal are 2-1 behind in the tie after a controversial defeat by Porto at the Dragao stadium last month.
"We cannot even take a gamble because he is just not available," Wenger told a news conference on Monday.
Fabregas was undergoing a scan on Monday but Wenger predicted the injury would not keep the player out for long.
"We are all convinced it will be a very very short time and that next weekend he has a small chance to be back for Hull.
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Wenger said Arsenal, despite the absence of the influential Fabregas, had enough quality to overturn the first-leg deficit.
"We want to qualify and the absence of Cesc is not any excuse at all. We have enough players, we have a strong enough squad to still get round that and we have a very good chance to qualify."
Defender William Gallas is also out on Tuesday with a calf problem.
