Cole refuses to blame Van Persie

Ashley Cole insists Arsenal players do not blame Robin van Persie for the "crazy" loss of self-control leaving them with a striker crisis for tonight's FA Cup replay at Sheffield United.

Van Persie was sent off for a second bookable offence in last weekend's draw at Southampton, even though his side were playing against 10 men after David Prutton's dismissal.

The consequences of his actions were emphasised when Thierry Henry was forced to pull out of tonight's game with an Achilles injury.

It leaves Arsenal with no fully-fit senior strikers, as van Persie is serving a one-match ban, while Dennis Bergkamp and Jose Antonio Reyes are also sidelined through suspension.

While Freddie Ljungberg could be a support striker, Robert Pires is out injured along with Edu, Gilberto Silva and Sol Campbell - leaving either 17-year-old Arturo Lupoli or 18-year-old Quincy Owusu-Abeyie to start at Bramall Lane.

All this for a game which Arsenal, whose Premiership and Champions League hopes are in the balance, cannot afford to lose.

But while Arsene Wenger made clear his frustration at van Persie's indiscipline after Saturday's game, Cole insists the Holland Under-21 international would learn from his mistake.

Asked if van Persie had let the side down, Cole maintained: "Of course not. I've done it before and I hope they didn't blame me for anything.

"We're not going to blame anyone. It's something that just happens on the spur of the moment.

"Maybe it could have been different if we'd had 11 against 10 but things happen and players do get sent off. We did okay with 10 men but of course they scored a good goal.

"Of course he'll learn. I've been sent off a couple of times now and it's just one of those things when you go a bit crazy for one or two seconds. But no one is putting the blame on him."

Quincy and Lupoli have shown their promise in the Carling Cup campaign this season, with both having been on target in the 3-1 home win against a near full-strength Everton side last November.

If Ljungberg does move into the attack, there are no natural wide players left in the squad, with Gael Clichy set to fill in on the left flank and either Cesc Fabregas or Mathieu Flamini expected to be asked to play out of position on the right side.

Cole, 24, told the club's website, www.arsenal.com: "The FA Cup is vital for us. Hopefully we can get a good result as we do seem to do well in the competition.

"It's going to be tough but I think we've got the squad to deal with it. We're going to miss key players like Robert Pires, but hopefully someone else can come in and do a good job, like they always do."