Contrary to rumours, Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen has not sustained an injury while on international duty with Belgium.

The summer signing from Ajax was rumoured to be out of Wednesday’s clash with Armenia, but the 23-year-old is actually one of many Belgian stars who is suspended for the game.
Vermaelen is expected to continue in the starting eleven along with fellow defender William Gallas for Saturday’s vital Premier League tie at Manchester City.

Loan spells are about more than football, according to Gavin Hoyte.

The young defender is back at Arsenal after spending the second half of the 2008/09 season on loan at Championship side Watford. And for him, he’s a different person after the spell he rates “seven or eight out of 10”.

Technically, Hoyte could not have chosen a closer destination for his move; Watford’s training ground is literally next door to Arsenal’s London Colney base. But experiencing the chasm between the two clubs, and making the step into a first-team, was invaluable for the 19-year-old.

“You have to grow up quickly – it’s about becoming a man more than anything,” he told Arsenal.com. “You have to be a lot stronger [mentally] and the intensity has to be maintained.

“I was living on my own, I had never done that before. I was cooking for myself - the lot. Although I did take my washing back to my mum a few times!

“It was good for me to get out of my comfort zone and away from my friends. It wasn’t too far away but at Watford we had maybe two games a week so I couldn’t go out and see them.

“I think it was a very good spell for me. I got to see how the Championship works and how different it is being in a first-team to being a reserve player. It made me feel like a senior player, it was about making that step. I had to eat right, sleep right, all the things that senior pros have to do.

“I had to adapt quickly and grow up quickly. Training with the first-team players everyday makes you think ‘this is what I need to do’.”