Arsenal Dealt Double Blow As Wenger Rules Duo Out Of Sunderland Clash

Arsenal have been dealt a double blow as Arsene Wenger has confirmed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Welbeck won’t return against Sunderland on Wednesday night.

Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t featured since injuring his hamstring during our 2-1 FA Cup victory over Manchester United back in early March.

A subsequent groin injury hampered his recovery and his comeback was further delayed by yet another hamstring problem which he suffered in training last week.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference this morning ahead of tomorrow nights clash with Sunderland, Wenger confirmed the 21-year-old is progressing well but isn’t ready to return just yet.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is joined on the sidelines by Welbeck as the attacker is still nursing a knee injury that’s seem him miss the last three matches, with the boss also confirming he won’t be in contention to face Sunderland.

The news comes as a blow as I think we’ve missed both players badly in recent weeks. While neither are automatic first choice, they provide us with valuable options from the bench but hopefully we should still have enough firepower to secure a positive result tomorrow night.

We head into the game needing just a point to secure third spot while a win would keep us in contention to finish second, should Manchester City slip-up on the final day of the season.

This is what Arsene told reporters today:

More team news: "@Alex_OxChambo and Welbeck are progressing well but will not be available for tomorrow." #AFCvSFC pic.twitter.com/Za5JwC7RSJ

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 19, 2015