LONDON: Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas will not play again in the domestic season after breaking his leg during Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final draw with Barcelona.

However, the 22-year-old Spanish international is confident that he will be fit for the World Cup which starts on June 11 despite suffering a small crack in his right fibula. Fabregas’ injury setback has added to the problems facing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who could also be without French defender William Gallas for the remainder of the campaign while Russian star Andrey Arshavin will be out for up to three weeks.

An Arsenal statement read: “Following a scan this afternoon, the club can confirm that Cesc Fabregas has suffered a small crack in his right fibula as a result of the collision with Barcelona skipper Carles Puyol during Wednesday evening’s match. As a consequence, Cesc will miss the remainder of the domestic campaign as he will be out of action for at six weeks.”

Fabregas almost missed out on the 2-2 draw with Barcelona owing to the severe bruising to his knee and leg he suffered last week at Birmingham. He came through a fitness test in the warm-up and scored a late penalty to rescue a draw.

Fabregas would have missed the second leg against his old club regardless of his fitness after a first half booking. He suffered the injury in a collision with Puyol, but he still expects to be fit for the World Cup with Spain when the tournament begins in 10 weeks’ time.

Meanwhile, Russian Arshavin could be out for three weeks after he picked up a calf problem against Barcelona. Gallas also looks set to be unavailable for the rest of the domestic campaign after he broke down on his return following eight games out with a calf injury.