Gibbs is a genuine alternative to Gael Clichy as Arsenal's first-choice left-back

Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs has been ruled out for "a few weeks" with a knee injury sustained in the 4-0 Carling Cup win at Newcastle on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old, who missed a large part of last season with a foot injury, suffered medial ligament damage and will undergo a scan on Friday.

Arsenal's official website says that providing the scan is positive, "his absence will be relatively short-term".

Gibbs played in England's friendly win against Hungary in August.

In late September he suffered severe bruising to the same left foot upon which he broke his metatarsal bone last season, but the damage was not as bad as first feared.

Arsenal's Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Dutch forward Robin van Persie are, however, scheduled to return to full training at the end of next week.

"Of course we should not set the same [recovery] time to Ramsey as Van Persie," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV Online.

"Aaron will need a longer period to be completely match-fit for the first team. But Van Persie is not far away now."

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