The 0-0 draw with Newcastle United was hugely overshadowed by the early departure of Mikel Arteta with a nasty looking injury. You know it's bad if they go down in agony unchallenged, and it has now been confirmed that he'll miss around six months - so he's certainly out for the season.

Where our season goes from here is anybody's guess but it's obviously a huge blow to the team. We've battled on without strikers and key players all season but this is a hammer blow, especially given how well Arteta's been playing since he switched to center midfield.

The problems of playing midfielders upfront and kids or defenders in midfield have been tempered by the outstanding form of the Spaniard in the last few months and he's the one player you wouldn't want to lose. But lose him we have and the manager and remaining players have to just get on with it.

There was an immediate glimpse into what we'd be like without him as we struggled to break down a poor but resilent Newcastle side who played a large part of the game with 10 men. That doesn't tell the full story though, of course we were missing people like Pienaar, Cahill and Osman - players who could certainly make a difference and get us a win against this sort of team.

And it's those sorts of players we'll be relying on for the rest of the season. Cahill, in particular has been immense of late and he'll need to carry that form on if we're to fulfill our potential this season. It isn't all doom and gloom though, let's not forget we're only one game away from a visit to Wembley and we have a bit of breathing space in that 6th position.

We should indeed be able to welcome Pienaar and Osman back into midfield soon and with Fellaini, Saha, Jo and of course Cahill all available we're not out for the count just yet.

Arteta's artistry and commanding displays will certainly be missed but a home fixture against struggling West Brom is just what the doctor ordered to hopefully keep a good run going and get some players back.