Arsenal Can Cope Without Champions League, Claims Hill-Wood

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists that failure to qualify for the Champions League would have little impact on the club.

The Gunners are currently fifth in the Premier League, four points behind Chelsea but with an inferior goal difference, while Newcastle are level on points and Liverpool are just one behind the north Londoners.

Arsenal have not failed to qualify for the Champions League since Arsene Wenger's first season in charge, a record stretching back to 1998, but Hill-Wood remains adamant the club would cope if they failed to achieve a top-four finish.

"We are hanging on in there, no more," he told the DailyStar. "From a financial point of view, not qualifying for the Champions League is quite a blow.

"We have been planning for not qualifying every year, so it's not a disaster, but it would be nice if we could."

Arsenal slumped to their second successive defeat on Sunday when they lost 3-2 at Swansea and, with Manchester United set to visit the Emirates this weekend; the club could slip down to seventh by Sunday night.

And Wenger was handed a fresh injury headache ahead of Sunday's clash with the defending champions, after Thierry Henry reportedly picked up a calf injury in training.

According to the Express, Henry picked up the injury on Tuesday and will undergo a scan at some point on Wednesday to determine the extent of the damage.