Arsenal
Gunners Injury Update – Sagna, Wilshere & Much More….
Ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup fourth round tie with Aston Villa at the Emirates, Arsene Wenger gave us an injury update including Wilshere, Gibbs, Henry and Sagna.
Afternoon Gooners. Ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup fourth round tie with Aston Villa at the Emirates, Arsene Wenger gave us an injury update. Wilshere aside, the other news is pretty good with several players on the way back to full fitness.
Here is a summary of what Arsene had to say to Arsenal.com:
on Bacary Sagna…
Bacary Sagna is back in full training. Many players who are not specialist right backs have been playing in this position so we are relieved to have Bacary back.
on Mikel Arteta…
He is very close to full training, Thierry Henry as well.
on Kieran Gibbs…
He will be back to full training on Monday. He will certainly not be involved at all on Sunday.
on Francis Coquelin…
He is back in the squad, he is available. That makes him, Henry, Bacary and Arteta back in contention for the squad.
on Jack Wilshere…
He has had a little setback that is under investigation at the moment so I cannot give you how long he will be out for. At the moment he is seeing a specialist and as soon as we know more we will communicate. It sets him back a little bit but for how long I don’t know. It is the same foot but a different problem to the injury he had surgery on back in September. But is it an inflammation? We have to wait a little bit.
on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain…
He is alright, it was just fatigue. His calf was not gone or anything like that, he just started to tire a little bit. It is normal for a guy who plays a game at that intensity. But health-wise he has no problem. He will be involved on Sunday.
on Johan Djourou…
He has still not practiced today. It is a small hamstring problem – but a minor one.
on the overall position…
At the moment, many players are on their way back. I will have to decide on Saturday, I have to look at them and see how much of a gamble I can take because we play again on Wednesday. Gibbs will certainly not be involved at all on Sunday, but the others could be involved. That will be decided tomorrow.
Just as we seemed to be making headway and hoping to get our first team players back, Jack Wilshere has a set back. Only at Arsenal does this seem to happen so frequently. I seriously think something needs to be done behind the scenes. Our injury record has been diabolical for over four years now. And a few players, including Fabregas, Van Persie and Arshavin have all questioned the treatment they have received by Arsenal medical staff in recent years.
Anyway, back to Jack and the key thing here is to not panic too much until the results of the scan are revealed. It could be just a bit of inflammation, or of course it could be a fracture or something, which doesn’t bare thinking about. But let’s sit tight and see what the specialist says, hopefully he brings us good news.
I’m glad to see Sagna back as he’s been sorely missed during the last four months. However, after so long out and with Coquelin back and Yennaris impressing against United last week, i don’t think Bac should be risked this weekend. Maybe give him 20 mins but definitely not a start.
Overall, the signs are promising that within the next 10 days we’ll have a much stronger squad to choose from and if only Wilshere could have some positive news on his set back, we’d be looking good going in to a vital February.
