Wenger: England missed Campbell injury

Arsene Wenger has accused England's medical staff of wrecking Sol Campbell's chances of being fit for the start of the season.

Campbell, who will be out for at least six weeks with an Achilles injury sustained during Euro 2004, and was sent home early from the Arsenal's pre-season tournament in the US. The Arsenal manager said: "It is a big blow to us. Campbell has tendon damage which went undetected and we will be without him for at least six weeks.

"They thought it was a minor problem, but we discovered the true extent of the damage when he came back and had an MRI scan. The injury was much worse than the medical staff thought in the English camp and, if he was treated earlier, he would have had a better chance of starting the season.

"A tendon problem is very difficult to detect unless you do an MRI scan and you can see how bad the damage is. But they didn't do one and that's why we discovered the extent of the damage afterwards."

Arsenal play Manchester United in the Community Shield next weekend before opening their league campaign against Everton on 15 August. Campbell is also likely to miss England's first two World Cup qualifiers, away to Austria and Poland on 4 and 8 September.