Manuel Almunia to miss Arsenal's Champions League tie at Partizan Belgrade

Manuel Almunia will not travel with the Arsenal squad to Serbia for tomorrow's Champions League group game against Partizan Belgrade. The goalkeeper, who was widely criticised for his performance in Saturday's 3-2 home defeat to West Brom , picked up an elbow injury during the first-half penalty incident, according to his manager Arsène Wenger. "We have Manuel Almunia out," Wenger said. "He has a problem with his elbow. He caught it when he made the penalty on Saturday." Asked whether the Spaniard's absence was down to his display at the weekend, Wenger answered: "No. [The keeper] is always the easy target, the easy scapegoat. But we win together and we lose together even if people think he made a mistake on the second goal." Lukasz Fabianski – who was less than convincing in the Carling Cup win over Tottenham last week – will now take Almunia's place in goal, while Wenger is waiting to find out whether Kieran Gibbs will be fit to travel. The left-back is still recovering from the badly bruised foot he suffered in the same game at White Hart Lane.