Arsenal's Theo Walcott out of Carling Cup final, Fabregas doubtful

Arsenal's English winger Theo Walcott will miss Sunday's Carling Cup final against Birmingham after an ankle injury sustained in the 1-0 win over Stoke on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old sprained his left ankle after twisting it in the turf following a tackle from Stoke's Dean Whitehead. He was in distress and had to leave the filed on a stretcher.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger confirmed that Walcott would play no part in the Carling Cup final against Birmingham on Sunday. He said, It is an ankle sprain - he is out of the next game for sure.

Arsenal have another injury worry in Captain Cesc Fabregas who suffered a hamstring injury in the first half against Stoke.

Wenger said, Fabregas has a hamstring problem. We will assess that tomorrow. It is impossible to see how serious it is tonight. We will know tomorrow.

It's a concern that Cesc is injured but it happens unfortunately. He was very upset. I am as well. But it is not his fault or mine. It is part of sport.

It's strange for it to happen so early in the game but we have to face it and we did the job after that in a very professional way because we faced a Stoke team who defended very well, very compact.

Later, Fabregas said on his twitter account, I don't know if I will make Sunday or not, but all I know is that from this moment to Sunday 1630 I won't sleep if it's necessary.

I've waited too long to captain a final for Arsenal and I won't give up until the last second.