Emmanuel Adebayor is set to return to the Arsenal team for Sunday's vital Premier League fixture at Chelsea and there could be further boosts with Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna also expected to declare their fitness.
Adebayor suffered an ankle problem in the bruising defeat at Stoke City at the beginning of the month and although he returned as a substitute against Aston Villa and subsequently went away on international duty with Togo for their friendly against Rwanda, he has not appeared since for Arsenal.
The manager, Arsène Wenger, has a clutch of injury concerns, including Emmanuel Eboué and Abou Diaby, together with the longer term casualties Eduardo, Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott, but the midfielder Nasri, who has carried a knee problem for some weeks, hopes to return at Stamford Bridge, along with the full-back Sagna, who has had ankle trouble.
David Norris, the Ipswich Town midfielder, pledged last night to donate his £5,000 fine to a charity established by the family of the boys killed by his former team-mate Luke McCormick.
The 27-year-old Norris was handed the fine by the Football Association yesterday after admitting a charge of improper conduct following his controversial goal celebration in the victory over Blackpool this month.
Norris made a gesture in support of his former Plymouth team-mate McCormick, who was jailed in October for causing death by dangerous driving while under the influence of alcohol. McCormick caused the death of brothers Arron and Ben Peak, and Norris will donate the money to a charity established by the Peak family.
Norris, who had also been fined two weeks' wages by his club and spent an hour with the boys' parents, Amanda and Phil Peak, last week to personally apologise. An FA regulatory commission statement said: "This was an act of immense naivety by Mr Norris, who should have considered the possible implications of his actions. However, we have also considered the subsequent actions by Mr Norris in not only writing to Mr and Mrs Peak but by personally meeting the family to apologise for his behaviour.
"The commission accepts the explanation of his gesture and that the remorse shown by Mr Norris to be genuine during the very sad time for Mr and Mrs Peak, who were also very gracious in accepting the apology from Mr Norris."
