Arsenal Team News: Wenger Confirms Double Injury Boost + Giroud Update

Arsenal will be looking to continue their recent good run of form when they take on newly-promoted Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, Arsene Wenger has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this morning and he’s given reporters a team news and injury update.

Let’s start with the bad news and the boss confirmed that Olivier Giroud is still unavailable as he continues to recover from a toe injury that he suffered during the final minutes of our Champions League draw at Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.

The French international was initially only expected to be out for a matter of days but Giroud has now missed our last four matches against Hull, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Basel and he’ll also sit out the trip to Turf Moor this weekend.

However, there was better news regarding the fitness of Francis Coquelin as Wenger revealed that the midfielder has made a swift recovery from a knee injury and could even make an appearance on Sunday.

Coquelin was initially ruled out for at least three weeks after suffering a knee injury during the first half of our 3-0 victory over Chelsea last weekend but it appears he’s made a remarkable recovery after returning to training on Thursday.

The midfielder will undergo a late fitness test today but Wenger remains cautious and feels that the Burnley game may come too soon meaning Coquelin will have to wait until after the international break to make his comeback.

In a double boost, the boss has also confirmed that Aaron Ramsey should be available for selection after the upcoming break as the midfielder looks to finally overcome a niggling hamstring injury that he sustained on the opening weekend of the season.

There were reports that Ramsey had suffered another setback in training after being ruled out of Wales’ World Cup qualifying double header but Wenger says the 25-year-old should be fit to face Swansea on October 15th.

Wenger is quoted as saying by the International Business Times:

“Giroud will be out, he will not come back.

“He (Coquelin) is much better than expected, he had tests today but I think he will be short of the game on Sunday,” he told reporters.

“Coquelin (recovered) much quicker because his knee ligament wasn’t damaged as we originally thought. He is keen to start again and had a training session yesterday. We have to be cautious though. Of course it is important (he is back), we have plenty of games coming up.”

“Ramsey is out of the squad, he should be available after the international break”

Carl Jenkinson has returned to full training following a knee ligament injury so the only other injury concerns are Per Mertesacker and Danny Welbeck with the duo both still nursing their own long-term knee problems.