There have been a few horror stories in the press lately saying that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the latest Arsenal player to join our ever-growing injury list and could be out for the next month at least, but according to an injury update from Dominic Fifield in the Guardian the Gunners medical team are “quietly confident” that Alex will be recovered enough to play against Liverpool next weekend.
Arsene Wenger was originally worried about the Ox when he said: “We cannot afford to lose him (Chamberlain) at the moment. I hope it’s nothing bad.
“He had a little bit of inflammation before the game. I took him to Galatasaray and maybe two games was a lot for him.”
That is great news as Alex was in excellent form against both Galatasary and Newcastle and would be sorely missed given our lack of options right now. There have also been rumours that Theo Walcott had also had another setback but the same report is under the impression that the speedy winger will also be fit and ready to play by Sunday, although it is very likely that Wenger won`t rush Theo back by making him a starter.
WENGER said: The signs are quite good. He (Walcott) has had two days of training now but he now lacks competition and fitness to come back to a good level.
It is certainly a welcome relief from our usual bad news on the injury front as Mikel Arteta (calf), Jack Wilshere (ankle), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) and Laurent Koscielny (thigh) are all still unavailable, but at least Mesut Ozil has finally returned to training…..