Arsenal Boss Offers Injury Update On Koscielny, Gabriel, Coquelin & Bellerin

Arsene Wenger has given an extensive injury update after Arsenal’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium last night.

Let’s start with Francis Coquelin and the midfielder could be set for a spell on the sidelines after limping off midway through the first half against the Cherries having picked up a hamstring injury.

The Frenchman looked in some discomfort when he was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 28th minute but Wenger says we’ll have to wait 48 hours to see the results of a scan before the full extent of the injury is known.

Hector Bellerin had a rare off day at right-back last night but the boss has revealed that the defender was a doubt for the game after he picked up an unspecified knock during the win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Bellerin was able to complete the full ninety minutes against Bournemouth but he certainly didn’t look himself so it could be that his injury played a part in his disappointing performance.

Wenger also revealed that Laurent Koscielny was forced to come off midway through the second half due to cramps in both legs and the centre-back was one of three other players who were carrying knocks from the Palace game.

Gabriel was also named as one player who was carrying a problem and Shkodran Mustafi came in for him at the back last night but the boss has suggested that the Brazilian may have kept his place had he been 100% fit.

Here is what Wenger told Arsenal.com:

on Coquelin’s situation…
Coquelin has a hamstring. It’s too early, you have to wait 48 hours for a scan to see. Usually when he sits down and comes up it’s not so good news. It’s just a tightness. The player tries to get on but he didn’t even try to play again.

on Bellerin’s night…
He had a knock, he was uncertain to play. That’s the problem when you have only 48 hours, you have to play some players who come out of a game like Crystal Palace [with knocks]. We had three or four players who we had to wait for the warm up to see if they could play.

on who the other three players were…
We had Koscielny, we had Gabriel that I didn’t start in the end because I was not in a position, and then I did not start Oxlade-Chamberlain because I did not take a gamble with him because I don’t know who we have to take off. You cannot take the fresh player out but then you cannot, the players who have played 48 hours before, you cannot take them out. It complicates a lot, the job. But we have to shut up and cope with it.

on why Koscielny came off…
He was tired, he had cramps in both legs and that’s why I decided to take him off.

So we had plenty of fitness problems to deal with last night but it doesn’t justify our terrible performance during the first 65 minutes when individual errors and needless mistakes gifted Bournemouth a 3-0 lead.

The good news is that we managed to turn things around during the final stages of the game and salvage a point but unfortunately a draw wasn’t what we needed to haul ourselves back in to the title race.