Cesc Fabregas' hamstring woes are in his head: Arsene Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has said that skipper Cesc Fabregas is not right in his head after a nightmare year wrecked by injuries.

The Arsenal skipper, who will make his first start in 31 days against Chelsea tonight, has suffered no fewer than eight injuries in the last 12 months.

A staggering five of them have been on his long-suffering hamstring and Gunners chief Wenger admitted all those setbacks have left Fabregas worrying constantly of breaking down, The Sun reports.

"Yes, he is sharp again now because he has two more weeks of practice behind him. In the last two or three days he has looked sharp. It is more a restriction he has. When he comes on, his hamstring is in his head. So we have to move the hamstring out of his head," Wenger said.

"That comes with practising every day. Physically, I think he is ready. At the moment in winter one of the disadvantages, when it is so cold, for the guy who comes on with 25 minutes to go is that it's not easy to get into the flow of the game," he said.

"He had as well a little bit of a mental problem - but now it looks to have gone. It is hard to overcome if you have a recurrence of injuries. You only get rid of it completely by reassurance," Wenger said.

Arsenal is banking on good display from Fabregas as they are desperate for the points that would give a huge boost to their title bid.