Arsenal Team News: Wenger Confirms Duo Will Miss Ludogorets Clash

Arsenal will be looking to take one step closer to securing qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League when we take on Ludogorets at the Emirates on Wednesday night.

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

The boss was pleased to confirm that we didn’t suffer any fresh injury concerns following our 3-2 victory over Swansea City at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

However, none of our current injured players are fit to return just yet meaning that Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud will continue to miss out when we take on the Bulgarian champions tomorrow night.

Ramsey hasn’t featured since a hamstring injury during our 4-3 defeat to Liverpool on the opening weekend of the new season and has struggled to overcome the problem due to several setbacks in training.

The Welsh international is now undergoing a personalised training regime with Wenger confirming last week that the midfielder needs a full pre-season camp before he’ll be available for action again.

Giroud has also been on the sidelines since suffering a toe injury during our 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain last month and has missed the last six matches in all competitions.

The striker is also back in training but like Ramsey, he needs to build up his fitness again before he’ll be considered available for selection and although Wenger says the duo are getting closer, they will continue on the sidelines tomorrow.

Wenger told Arsenal.com:

on the latest team news…
For tomorrow we have a similar squad to the one that faced Swansea. There are no injuries and everyone is available.

on Giroud and Ramsey…
They continue their preparation as they have been out for a long time. I think they need sharpening up now but they are not far away.

Alexis Sanchez is expected to continue up front in Giroud’s absence while Francis Coquelin is pushing for a recall in midfield after overcoming a knee injury, but Danny Welbeck and Per Mertesacker remain out with long-term injuries.