Neck Injury Puts Henry on Tenterhooks for London Derby

Arsenal's wretched week took a further worrying turn yesterday when Arsène Wenger declared Thierry Henry is a doubt for tomorrow's derby at home to Tottenham. The captain has aggravated the neck injury that kept him out of Saturday's away defeat at Bolton.

Henry returned to face Fulham on Wednesday but was in pain afterwards and Wenger told Arsenal TV Online: "Thierry has to be assessed and we will make a decision on him tomorrow. It is a problem with his sciatic nerve."

The loss of Henry would be a significant blow to Arsenal, who are looking to beat Tottenham to stabilise their season and lift confidence before the Champions League match at Porto. They need to draw against the Portuguese club to be guaranteed a place in the first knockout round, with the suspended Henry unable to play.

Wenger reported no other injury concerns following the defeat at Fulham, where he rested players with a hectic schedule in mind. He criticised this week's Premiership fixture list, with Spurs not playing, but was bullish about Arsenal's chances tomorrow. However they drew twice with their north London rivals last season and have regularly dropped points at the Emirates Stadium.

"We have a difficult game coming up against Tottenham and I do not agree at all with the way the fixtures have been organised - it is a farce," Wenger said. "I cannot understand how the Premier League can organise midweek fixtures in between Champions League games. They are very creative because to get that through anywhere else in Europe, you will have big problems. We play now against opponents who did not play this week - but we will beat them."

He defended his decision to rest Emmanuel Eboué and Gaël Clichy and start Cesc Fabregas on the bench, although the ploy appeared to backfire. "I had to make changes because some players have played in every game and we also had guys coming back from injury. We had to change the players or we will not get through to January."

Wenger's upbeat outlook was matched by his opposite number Martin Jol. Tottenham have not beaten Arsenal in 14 attempts since a 2-1 win at White Hart Lane in November 1999, and have not won at Arsenal since a 3-1 success in May 1993. "I don't want to overestimate them, or to underestimate them but, yes, you can say I am pretty confident," Jol said.

He has not spoken to Wenger since a bad-tempered touchline spat during last season's 1-1 draw at Highbury in April, a result that helped Arsenal take the fourth and final Champions League qualifying spot at Spurs' expense. Jol said he did not classify Wenger as a friend but would shake hands and chat tomorrow. "I don't have mates [in football]," Jol said. "Well, I suppose Chris [Hughton, his assistant] is a mate and I talk a lot to [Jose] Mourinho."

Jol said his antipathy towards Wenger did not prevent him from respecting the quality of football that the Frenchman's teams have produced in the past decade. "I feel they still have a great team and this season, too, I still feel they play the best football in England. But results-wise if you don't score - and Arsenal do struggle sometimes to score - then it is difficult to win the games you play."

Jol, who expects Ledley King to be fit despite a recent virus, admitted Tottenham lack a player of special quality. "It would be different if we had Thierry Henry or a player like [Wayne] Rooney," he said. "Maybe [Aaron] Lennon or [Dimitar] Berbatov will make a difference for us in the future."