Arsenal
Team News: Arsenal Boss Rules Trio Out Of Hull Clash, Defender Also A Major Doubt
Arsene Wenger has given a team news and injury update ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Hull City on Monday night. See what the boss had to say here.
Arsenal will hope to maintain their push for second place in the Premier League when they take on Hull City on Monday night.
Ahead of the game, Arsene Wenger has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this morning and has given Arsenal.com a team news and injury update.
Unfortunately, the boss confirmed that Mathieu Debuchy is a major doubt after the French international picked up a hamstring injury in training this week.
The problem doesn’t appear too serious but Wenger has suggested that Monday’s trip to the KC Stadium will come too soon for the 29-year-old full-back.
The boss also confirmed that while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Abou Diaby are back in full training, they are still short of match fitness and will therefore not be in contention against Hull.
Mikel Arteta is also slowly working his way back to full fitness after over five months on the sidelines with an ankle injury, but again the Spaniard still isn’t available for selection just yet.
Here is what Arsene told the clubs website:
on the latest news…
We have a full squad available, the only one who is really a doubt is Mathieu Debuchy. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not completely ready, nor Diaby, but they both practice in full training sessions now. We have no major injuries apart from Debuchy.
on Debuchy…
He has a little hamstring problem. Monday could be too early for him. He got the injury in training.
on the rest of the squad being fit…
We are at a period of the season where it’s going to be important to have everybody on board and to see everyone fit makes us stronger. We are on a good run, we want to keep it going and the fact that we have plenty of [selection] opportunities is very interesting for me.
on Arteta’s availability…
He makes progress week by week, but he needs more time.
With Debuchy out, Hector Bellerin is expected to continue at right-back on Monday night but hopefully the Frenchman will get back in contention to take on Swansea City.
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We head into the Hull game level on points with Manchester City in second place with a game in hand so perhaps we’ll be looking for a favour from Tottenham when they entertain Manuel Pellegrini’s men on Sunday afternoon.
