Wenger Offers Injury Update On Coquelin, Walcott & Oxlade-Chamberlain

Arsene Wenger has delivered an update on the fitness of Francis Coquelin, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain following Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday night.

Coquelin was forced off during the opening stages of our loss at West Brom on Saturday after suffering a knee injury and the boss confirmed on Monday that the midfielder was facing at least two months on the sidelines.

However, following further tests, Wenger revealed last night that while the injury doesn’t need surgery, Coquelin is now likely to be out for 12 weeks meaning he won’t return until mid-February.

The news comes as a major blow as the 24-year-old has made the defensive midfield role his own this year and we have very few viable options to fill the void over the coming months.

There was some more positive news from the boss last night as he also confirmed that Oxlade-Chamberlain is on the verge of making his comeback while Walcott also has a chance of being fit for the crucial clash with Olympiakos in two weeks time.

The Ox has been out for over a month with a hamstring injury but could be back in the squad for Sunday’s trip to Norwich but Theo needs a bit longer to recover from the calf injury that he sustained against Sheffield Wednesday last month.

Here is the update Arsene gave Arsenal.com:

on who will be back for the game against Olympiacos…

For Olympiacos, apart from tonight, Oxalde-Chamberlain will certainly be back while Theo Walcott has a chance.

on Coquelin’s scan…

It is what we feared basically. Let’s be realistic, it will be 12 weeks.

on if he requires surgery…

No. He does not need surgery. It was a knee ligament so it will be 12 weeks.

Last night’s win over Zagreb means we head into the final group stage game at Olympiakos knowing we need to win by two clear goals or by 3-2, 4-3, etc, in order to snatch second spot and qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Thankfully it looks likes Oxlade-Chamberlain will be available for the game while Aaron Ramsey also made his comeback last night but we’ll have to wait and see whether Walcott manages to make the trip to Greece.