Arsenal Team News: Wenger Confirms Double Injury Boost Ahead Of Stoke Clash

Premier League football returns after the international break as Arsenal take on Stoke City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, Arsene Wenger has been speaking at his pre-match press conference this morning and has confirmed to reporters that we’ve received a double injury boost with Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny declared fit for selection.

Mertesacker has missed our last two games against Liverpool and Newcastle due to a virus but the German international is now back in full training ahead of the visit of Stoke this weekend.

However, it remains to be seen whether Arsene will bring him straight back in to the starting eleven as Gabriel has performed extremely well at the heart of defence during his absence.

The duo will be vying for a place alongside Koscielny as Wenger also confirmed that the recently turned 30-year-old is fit and available despite suffering a minor back injury while away on international duty.

Koscielny was forced to sit out of France’s 2-1 win over Serbia earlier this week after seemingly aggravating a back problem that saw him miss the draw with Liverpool last month.

However, it looks like his withdrawal in midweek was was just a precaution as Arsene says the defender is fine and that no players returned from international duty injured.

We head into the game this weekend sitting sixth in the Premier League table on seven points following an indifferent start to the season. Our home form has really let us down so hopefully we can pick up our first three points at the Emirates this season on Saturday.

Wenger: "Nobody has come back injured from international duty. Koscielny is OK, Mertesacker is back in full training."

— James Olley (@JamesOlley) September 10, 2015

Boss: "Per @mertesacker is back in training ahead of Saturday's game against Stoke City." #SCFCvAFC pic.twitter.com/tLBabeLMAU

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) September 10, 2015