Van Persie has been on the sidelines since damaging ankle ligaments on international duty with the Dutch back in November.

Van Marwijk claimed yesterday that the forward, who was a potent threat for the Gunners when leading their line at the start of the season, could be back playing at the beginning of April.

Wenger admits it would be great to see the 26-year-old return by then but he reckons that is something of a pipe dream.

"I would love to agree with him (Van Marwijk)," Wenger said.

"But no, I believe he is a bit optimistic thinking that.

"I haven't seen Robin because he is in Holland at the moment but that looks too early to me."

Van Persie was in a rich vein of scoring form prior to his injury, netting eight goals in a run of 11 games.

In his absence, Arsenal have had no trouble hitting the back of the net but they have lacked a real presence up front, especially with Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner having also had spells out of action.

Wenger will hope by the time Van Persie does return, his side are still in the Barclays Premier League title race.

They are currently six points off the pace set by Chelsea but have - on paper at least - an easier run-in than both the Blues and their other title rivals Manchester United, who are second.

Saturday's match against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium represents one of the toughest tests the Gunners will face in their final 11 games but Wenger has challenged his men to go through them unbeaten.

"We know that that target (of staying unbeaten) is there but the only way to reach it is to start by trying to win the next game," he said.

"Let's be realistic, pragmatic, ambitious, but also humble and hungry enough to understand that what people say about our run-in is one thing, but what happens on the pitch is most important.

"It will be very tight. At the moment, mathematically, Chelsea are in a strong position but they have difficult games to play, they have to combine the European programme, FA Cup games and the championship.

"It will be very tight until the end."

Wenger may be able to call upon the services of Eduardo this weekend, with the Croatia striker expected to be back in training tomorrow after shrugging off a hamstring problem.

But the Frenchman has confirmed Abou Diaby (knee), William Gallas (calf) and Andrey Arshavin (hamstring) will all miss the trip to the midlands as they continue to struggle with their respective injuries.

Arsenal have come a cropper at Stoke both times they have visited the Potteries over the last two seasons, once in the league and once in the FA Cup.

On both occasions, the Gunners were unable to deal with Stoke's physical threat, primarily the bullet-like throw-ins of Rory Delap, which contributed to three of the five goals Arsenal conceded.

But Wenger insists there is more to Tony Pulis' side than that.

"I have seen them recently in games and they have a good mixture between that efficiency they have and how they actually play," he said.

"Technically they are a team that has improved tremendously compared to last season.

"I believe Stoke is a big fixture for us. Of course Tottenham and Man City are the big names we have left to play but you can drop points in the Premier League anywhere. This season has shown that.

"We will have to be up for it on Saturday."