Arsenal Star In Danger Of Missing Chelsea Cup Final After Fresh Injury Blow

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is in danger of missing the FA Cup final against Chelsea after suffering a hamstring injury during Arsenal win at Southampton last night.

The 23-year-old started in the right wing-back position against the Saints last night but was forced to receive treatment after pulling up holding his hamstring in the first half.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was substituted in the 36th minute and limped off down the tunnel at St Marys with the club physio after being replaced by Hector Bellerin.

Speaking to Arsenal.com after the game, Arsene Wenger confirmed the midfielder has suffered a hamstring injury but the Gunners won’t know the full extent of the problem until it’s been further assessed.

Arsenal are still fighting for the top four after securing a vital 2-0 win last night but obviously there is also a huge FA Cup final against Chelsea coming up and with just over two weeks left to recover, Oxlade-Chamberlain is in real danger of missing out on the Wembley show piece.

When asked whether he thought The Ox would be fit to take on Chelsea later this month, Wenger appeared optimistic as the Arsenal boss says the injury didn’t look serious.

Wenger told Arsenal.com:

on Ox’s injury…
It’s a hamstring problem. But we don’t know how bad it is.

on whether there’s a chance Ox could miss the FA Cup final…
I don’t know. It doesn’t look, because he walks properly. It was tight, it was not a knife, you know. Personally, I didn’t see any incident where he had to stop for a sprint, it was more fatigue. But it’s difficult to assess now, after the game.

We’ll have to wait and see what the tests reveal but even a minor hamstring injury could mean three weeks out which would result in Oxlade-Chamberlain missing the FA Cup final.

The injury has come as a terrible time for Oxlade-Chamberlain as he’s been in excellent form over the past couple of months and has been impressing in his new right wing-back role.

The England international is almost certainly going to miss Arsenal’s trip to Stoke on Saturday but it remains to be seen whether he’ll return for the north Londoners remaining games against Sunderland, Everton and Chelsea.