Thomas Vermaelen has NOT fractured his leg but he still may miss Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Manchester United on Sunday.

The Belgian limped off in the first half of the draw at Aston Villa on Wednesday night and afterwards manager Arsène Wenger feared the centre back might have broken a bone.

Scans on Thursday afternoon showed there was no break but the leg injury could still sideline Vermaelen in the short term.

On the upside, Wenger has added Emmanuel Eboue and Alex Song to his squad after they returned from the Africa Cup of Nations. Meanwhile Eduardo’s hamstring injury is “small, small, small”. The striker, who also limped off at Villa Park, is out for Sunday but could be back next weekend for the trip to Chelsea. Abou Diaby is also in line to return at Stamford Bridge.

“There is no fracture in Thomas’ leg but his injury still has to be assessed,” said Wenger. “There is still a good chance he will not play on Sunday.

“Eduardo has a small, small, small hamstring. He will be out for one week. He will not make Man United but he might make Chelsea.

“However Emmanuel Eboue and Alex Song have been in this morning. Eboue has been running outside. They are both in good shape. Tired but in good shape. Both of them are available for Sunday.

“Unfortunately Abou will not be back this weekend but he could be for Chelsea.”

Sol Campbell has described Wayne Rooney as Manchester United's talisman and says Arsenal will have to be wary of the England striker on Sunday.

United travel to Emirates Stadium for a crucial Premier League encounter but Campbell believes the game isn't make or break to either side's season.

United striker Rooney is the Premier League's top goalscorer this season, with 19 strikes in 22 starts for his club. It's something that hasn't escaped the notice of Campbell, who warns that Arsenal will need to be on their guard come the weekend.

"He is their talisman," said the defender. "He's always going to pop up and he's always dangerous.

"We have to watch him, just like at Villa with Heskey and Agbonlahor. In a flash something can happen and they're in, it's all a part of football.

"It will be a challenge [to come up against him] but that’s what it's all about."

Campbell featured in a number of high-profile matches for Arsenal in his first spell at the Club, helping the Gunners claim two Premier League titles, three FA Cups and reach a Champions League final in which he scored the opening goal.

If he features on Sunday, the 35-year-old will make his 200th appearance for the Club.

"It's a massive game, a great game to be involved in," he said. "You just have to look at the League table.

"If you're going to play a team in and around you then you have to get a good result against them. If you don’t, they go up another notch and you stay where you are."

However, the defender believes that Sunday’s game won't prove to be a title decider. Instead, Campbell expects the team that finds form in the final weeks of the season to claim the Premier League trophy.

"We're just past midway through the season," he said. "It's the business end of the season and these are a big two weeks for the Club. We need to get some points and go from there.

"These are a big two weeks but you have to keep on picking up these results," he said. "You have to pick up points up and down the country, in the big games and against teams in the middle of the table.

"Man United will drop points and Chelsea will drop points. Everyone will drop points here and there. It will come down to who gets the run going. It's all about grinding out the results."

Arsène Wenger has a very good reason for not buying a striker during the transfer window - the players who have caught his eye have not been available.

The Arsenal manager has been linked with a string of forwards ever since he suggested he would enter the market in the wake of Robin Van Persie’s long-term injury.

Sol Campbell made a shock return to the Club in January but the predicted striker signing has not yet materialised. That has been a source of frustration to those who feel Arsenal need reinforcements to push for the title, but Wenger has had his hands tied by circumstances.

“It is not only about wanting to buy, it is to find better players than what you have available and we haven’t until now. It is as simple as that,” he said.

“You always want to add a [Cristiano] Ronaldo if you can, but is he available and where is he?

“Marouane Chamakh is not available because he is playing with Bordeaux and Bordeaux don't want to release him. David Villa as well, Valencia don't want to let him go.”

Nicklas Bendtner’s return from a long-term groin problem has at least bumped up the number of striking options available to Wenger as Arsenal challenge for honours at home and in Europe in the coming months.

And in the absence of a new recruit, the Frenchman will trust his current squad to provide the requisite quality.

“I believe as well the extra push can come within the Club and the easy solution is always to look outside,” said Wenger.

“When you look deeply at what is happening to us, we have the best attack in the League; we scored more goals than anybody else. That means at least if you can do that for the first 20 or 21 games, why not in the other 18?”

Arsène Wenger is confident that Arsenal can become England’s No 1 club AND stay self-sufficient.

The recession has bitten football over the past 12 months or so and stories of financial woe are on the up - with Portsmouth hogging most of those negative headlines at the moment.

The common conception that you must spend to succeed is being challenged by Arsenal this season as Arsène Wenger’s side push for the title despite making a profit in the transfer market.

The Frenchman was urged to splash the cash last summer but, after drafting in Thomas Vermaelen, he has promoted from within. Wenger’s long-term policy is bearing fruit and he believes it can take Arsenal to the top of the Premier League tree.

“That is our target, to become the No 1 team in the country, but we know that the competition becomes harder and harder,” he said.

“For a few years it was Man United, then Chelsea came and then you have now Man City as well and you have some other teams who work well, some other clubs like Tottenham, Aston Villa.

“So it becomes harder and harder but I believe a lot we have good rules here. We manage the Club within our financial resources and I always did do that and we have a very young team.”

Debt is a hot topic in football with Manchester United and Liverpool both shouldering plenty of it in the wake of takeovers. So are Arsenal in a position to capitalise?

“I think we are the team who brought out more young players than any other team in the country,” said Wenger. “That is why if you look forward we are not in a position today where we have to say we have to spend £150million to build a team.

“We have a team. If we have to add one, even at 30 [million] we can do it, if not we can rely on what we have.”

Arsène Wenger has seen a more focused Sol Campbell since the defender returned to the Club and believes that is down to his time out of the game.

The Englishman left Arsenal for Portsmouth in the summer of 2006, and moved to Notts County at the start of this season. However he only played once for the League Two club.

The 35-year-old asked Wenger if he would be able to train with Arsenal in order to maintain his fitness levels, and the manager believes being out of the game has helped Campbell change for the better.

"It was a good thing for him," said Wenger. "He realised he missed the game and needed the game to be happy, and sometimes we tend to forget that. I have seen that in his focus."

Speaking ahead of Sunday's clash with United, Wenger also pin-pointed why he decided to offer the defender an Arsenal contract.

"[It was] the consistency of his focus on the hard work because we put him through a really difficult regime," said the Frenchman.

"When he came here [to train] he was not in good shape. We pushed him really very hard.

"He asked me if he could practice here. He could have said ‘yes tomorrow I cannot come and I can come two days later'. But the fact that every single day he was there and was ready to work, I thought ‘Oh he is still hungry'.

"I thought if I give Philippe Senderos an opportunity to play somewhere else, why should I look somewhere else? Campbell worked for three months every day and I think for 60 days it was without working with our team, just fitness.

"I was impressed by his attitude. Sol was not the keenest before because he relied on his natural physical ability. This time he pushed himself."

With Thomas Vermaelen's knee injury making the Belgian international a doubt for Sunday's game, Campbell could step in to make his 200th Arsenal appearance, and his first Premier League start since returning to the Club. But manager Wenger is focusing on his entire team, not just the centre-back.

''You don't want to make too much of an individual case in a game like this," he said. "What you want is the team to play well and Sol will play well. If the team does play badly then Sol will be in trouble. You focus more on the team game."