Arsenal Injury News: Positive Update On Walcott, Arteta + Gibbs

The international break is almost over and our thoughts will soon turn to the return of Premier League action this weekend.

Arsenal will be first up as we entertain defending champions Manchester City at the Emirates on Saturday lunchtime and we’ve got some injury news from the Mirror including the latest on the fitness of Mikel Arteta, Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs.

Arteta has missed the last three weeks with an ankle injury that he picked up during our 0-0 draw away at Besiktas in mid-August but it looks like the skipper has handed Arsene Wenger a major injury boost.

The newspaper claims that the Spaniard has made good progress and is set to resume full training, and is expected to be passed fit to face City this weekend. Arteta’s return will be a welcome one as Mathieu Flamini’s limitations have been exposed in recent games.

There is also good news on Gibbs with the Mirror suggesting that the 24-year-old is closing in on a comeback from a hamstring problem that he suffered on the opening weekend of the season against Crystal Palace.

Nacho Monreal has been solid in his absence at left-back but Gibbs’ return will be a major boost as he will offer us much more – particularly in the final third as his pace is a real asset down the left flank. It remains to be seen whether Gibbs will be passed fit to face City but we should know more later in the week.

The final update is on Theo Walcott and the 25-year-old is stepping up his comeback by returning to full training. Walcott has been on the sidelines for over nine months after rupturing his cruciate ligament against Tottenham way back in January last season but he’s now well on the road to recovery and is hoping to be back playing again by the end of the month.

There’s a chance he could feature in our Capital One Cup clash with Southampton on the 23rd or failing that, there’s the tantalising prospect that Walcott could make his long-awaited comeback against Tottenham at the Emirates on the 27th.