CHARLTON striker Francis Jeffers, who missed Tuesday's reunion with his first club Everton, has also been ruled out of a second with former club and Premier League champions Arsenal at The Valley on Saturday.

Jeffers had been expected to be among the substitutes for the Everton game but manager Alan Curbishley disclosed that he had undergone surgery for ingrowing toe-nails on Monday.

He's been training for the last week with ingrowing toe nails and they just got too sore," Curbishley explained. "We knew that if he had the operation it would take him out for two weeks at the most, keeping him out of the games against Everton and Arsenal.

"But he had to have it done because he was so sore at Southampton on Boxing Day."

Curbishley, whose side go into Saturday's match in seventh place, confessed he would favour a breaking of the Premier League monopoly maintained the big four _ Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool.

"I think it would be good to come into a Premier League season not thinking that Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, in any order, are going to be the Champions League qualifiers.

"It would be good for the Premier League if that were to happen. We tried hard last season and just couldn't make it, so maybe someone else will break that monopoly.

"The predictability of the Premier League is becoming a problem so we need someone to gatecrash for that fourth place."