Van Persie surgery a success - Wenger

Robin van Persie's surgery on his right ankle was successful, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed.

Van Persie, 26, suffered the injury while on international duty with Holland and will be out for around five months, with Wenger relieved there were no complications with his operation. Frenchman Wenger also had positive news about left-back Kieran Gibbs, who has gone under the knife for his fractured foot.

"Kieran is doing very well. I had him on the phone and it looked to be completely fine," said Wenger.

"I have not talked to Robin yet but there again the news I got from the surgery was it went very, very well.

"There was a lot of disturbance on our side recently [about his injury] but the surgery went well."

Van Persie's absence as a central striker cannot be filled against Stoke on Saturday by Theo Walcott as the England international has picked up a hamstring injury.

Andrey Arshavin has highlighted the problem of holding the ball up in attack without Van Persie.

The Russian playmaker told L'Equipe: "Since the injury to Van Persie, we have scored only two goals in three matches. No-one is able to keep hold of the ball."