Former West Ham United goalkeeper Mervyn Day is our man with his finger on the pulse of football. Championship Manager columnist Merv is currently working as a scout for Fulham. In his latest blog, he tells us why the latest round of international friendlies will have a big say on the title race.
 
The international friendlies over the past few days are going to have a big impact on the domestic game in the next few weeks.

The current injury crisis they've caused for the top clubs means there will be a massive effect on the title race.

Robin Van Persie is a massive miss for Arsenal.

He has just been playing some fantastic football and that is going to cause a problem for Arsene Wenger. He was so important to the way they were playing.

Chelsea will miss Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard greatly but have such a good squad. They can maybe plug the holes for Ashley Cole and Jose Boswinga, they have got other players who can fill in those positions.

But Arsenal don't have another player to replace Van Persie as the main striker, with that ability to do the job. The football calendar is very crowded right now with the way the Champions League and Europa League are set up. These guys will be playing 60 games a season.

Now we always used to do that as players but the game today is far more physically demanding.

To have international friendlies stuck in between these games when there is no need for them doesn't help anyone. I understand why you would have them in March, coming up to the World Cup but this is November and a player who is playing well right now, might not be in May.

John Terry and Frank Lampard will be missing for Chelsea after the England game all the way over in Qatar. It might have been different had it have been played at Wembley and club managers would understand that better.

Fabio Capello is certainly right to fear two English teams getting to the Champions League final.  That would put half his first XI for the World Cup at risk of injury. They can't pull out as it is a major club championship and it will be a full-on game too.

You need warm-up games like the one planned against Japan at the end of May, but friendlies in November are just too much.