Arsenal team news ahead of Doncaster – Ozil still out but Wilshere is ready to prove himself again

Arsenal are gearing up to take on Doncaster this evening in the Caraboa Cup at the Emirates and it looks like we will be seeing the first starts of the season for both Calum Chambers and Jack Wilshere, but Mesut Ozil is still not ready to come back into the squad. When asked about the German yesterday, Wenger said: “Mesut is training again, but for tomorrow no [he will not feature]. He has a little inflammation of his knee.”

But when quizzed on Chambers, who is yet to feature this season, Wenger replied: “Yes, he will be involved against Doncaster. Jack Wilshere is involved too.”

Wenger also confirmed that Debuchy and Coquelin are out of contention and that Danny Welbeck will be out for at least another few weeks, but it is the prospect of seeing Wilshere make his first start that is exciting Arsenal fans. Jack has had to come back from yet another fracture sustained at Bournemouth last season, but Wenger assures us that the Englishman is now ready to stake a claim for the first team. “Jack has been consistent in training,” Le Prof said. “If you ask me is he back to his full, 100 per cent potential, I would say no, but he’s not far away. The rest now can only be gained by competition.

“That’s why I believe that these kind of games are very important for Jack at the moment. He is focused, he is working hard and he is absolutely determined to get his place back in the team. There is a big fight there and that’s what we want.

“Jack deals with the pressure very well. He always had that from a very young age but I would say that overall he is more patient now. He got a few knocks and bruises that build a man and at the start it was all very easy for him.

“Jack has gone through some tough times so he has that density, that fitness now of a man who knows that life is not only easy. You have as well to go through some difficult periods and he has always had a football brain. Jack understands football very well, but I would say he’s a much more mature man today. He had always common sense Jack, but he had an impulsive character.”

“I don’t think you can get that out, because that’s part of your pride,” Wenger continued. “Your pride is part of your game and I don’t think he will ever lose that. He will never accept to lose a ball, but that’s part of a good football player. What I think is that for him it’s important now that he stays a long period without having any setbacks.

“It’s a dream for all of us. I gave Jack his start at 17 years of age. That means I am convinced. You have to be convinced to play a boy at 17 years of age, that he is a special player. He is a special player, but we are all the same in that you need health to work. I need health to work and a football player needs to be healthy to play.”

We are all praying that Our Jack can stay healthy from now on, and hopefully we will see a return to the form that wowed us all when he was an unblemished youngster. It’s too early to judge him, but a good run in the Europa League and this competition could see him back in the Arsenal first team on a regular basis. It could be a dream, but let’s wait and see shall we?

Admin