In his press conference on Thursday, Arsenal manager emphasised that his side have made real progress since the turn of the year. Good news was also to be had on the injury front as Wenger confirmed the fitness of Abou Diaby, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Debuchy.
Speaking of the first three, the boss said:
“They came through the game on Tuesday well. They were at a good level physically and they should all be available from now on until the end of he season hopefully.”
This news is music to the ears of many Arsenal supporters as it means further squad depth in midfield positions. However, many Arsenal supporters will remain sceptical and keep an eye on Diaby.
On Debuchy, the Arsenal Manager said:
“Debuchy is alright. I can only play three players over 21 [in the under-21 league] so he is physically fit and ready. He lacks a bit of a competitive edge but overall he has no medical problems.”
Woicjech Szczęsny also looks set to return while Laurent Koscienly picked up an injury that forced him to go off against Liverpool, also has a chance of a return. Of the Frenchman, Wenger said:
“It’s a thigh problem, a little hip problem linked with the thigh. He will have a test today to see how far we can go with him. He had a scan yesterday and that looks quite good. The real test will be outside today.”
The only negative appears to be the fitness of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with the winger set to be out for ‘at least two more weeks.’
Meanwhile the Manager discussed Arsenal’s squad depth and identified this as the key factor in Arsenal’s current form:
“We had a difficult start this season compared to last year,” he said. “This season we had many players out for four or five months after the World Cup and since we have found our cohesion with everybody back, we feel we have moved forward.”
Wenger also discussed the ambition in the team for the rest of the season urging his players to look as high as possible:
“We look behind us and people are chasing us, in front of us there’s quite a big distance with Chelsea but we work very hard to reduce that. What we want is to go as high as we can until the end of the season, give our best and we are also in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.”
Finally, the Boss touched on Burnley, calling the encounter a ‘tough test’:
“Burnley is a tough test for everybody, we have to make sure we produce the expected performance on the commitment, on the focus and on the quality of our game. Of course, you have to be at their level of physical performance, because they will be there.”
Arsenal face Burnley in the evening kick off on Saturday at 17:30pm.
