Arsene Wenger has given the Arsenal fans all the latest on the injured Gunners during the press conference ahead of the Premier League clash with Aston Villa at the Emirates on Sunday. You can see the whole thing on Arsenal Player but I am just looking at what the manager revealed about the injury situation of some of our key players.
So I will start with the bad news and that is that our versatile and dynamic England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not going to be available as we thought for this weekend. In fact he is not going to be able to play against the spuds in the north London derby next weekend either, so hopefully his team mates like Ozil and Walcott can step up and ensure that the Gunners do not miss the Ox too badly.
There is more bad news from Wenger on the fitness of Alexis Sanchez who is struggling with a hamstring problem. The Chilean will have a test tomorrow but the Frenchman suggested that he would not be risking him anyway, although it does sound like he will be up for the trip to White Hart Lane.
The news on Danny Welbeck is not too bad as he also seems certain to be ready for the derby although Sunday is too soon. Again Wenger said he could risk him but suggested that he wouldn’t.
The best news is on Jack Wilshere, who the manager revealed was ahead of schedule and was nearly finished with his fitness training and ready to join up with the squad again, meaning he will be available for the FA cup and Champions League games.
And with Wenger hinting the other day that Mikel Arteta was only a little behind Jack, it looks like Arsenal will be heading into the business end of the season and some crucial cup games with a much stronger squad than we have been able to call on so far this season.