Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that Laurent Koscielny is fit and admitted the centre-back could start against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
The Gunners make a trip to The Hawthorns as they face West Brom in the Premier League clash this weekend. The French international has been on the sidelines for over two months with tendinitis.
Koscielny had earlier resumed training and is in contention to start against West Brom.
“He is well. If I want him to start, he will start,” Wenger told the club’s official website.
The return of Koscielny will see him partner World Cup winning defender Per Mertesacker in the heart of the North London club’s back four. In the absence of the Frenchman, Wenger deployed Nacho Monreal as a make-shift centre-back as Calum Chambers was playing in the right-back position to fill in the void left by Mathieu Debuchy’s injury.
Meanwhile, the Gunners on Thursday confirmed their star midfielder Jack Wilshere will be out of action for three months after he successfully underwent a surgery on his left ankle. Apart from Koscielny’s comeback from injury, Arsenal do not have any good news.
Wenger confirmed midfielder Mikel Arteta, forwards Theo Walcott and Yaya Sanogo will miss the weekend fixture against West Brom.
“I will have to check this morning how available everybody is. Szczesny (pelvis) has not practiced yet at all. Arteta is out for sure of course and I think Sanogo (cramp) has problems as well because I had to take him off. We have a few other players that we have to check,” Arsenal manager said..
“Arteta has now had a calf problem for the third time. It’s always a small grade one but it’s minimum two to three weeks.”
“Theo is not okay for the weekend, he has an inflamed groin coming back from England and has not been available since. He will not be available for this game, nor Wednesday,” he added.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
