Jack Wilshere has been ruled out for three weeks which will see him miss England’s crucial World Cup Qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro later this month.
The Arsenal midfielder injured his left ankle during the 2-1 North London derby defeat against Tottenham on March 3rd and whilst it is not a long term injury it will also keep him out of the Gunners’ Champions League second round second-leg tie against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Arsene Wenger’s men are trailing 3-1 from the first leg at the Emirates and must travel to the Allianz Arena with a three goal victory on the agenda.
The 21-year-old will be bitterly disappointed with this latest setback having been plagued with injury since being named the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2011. He missed the whole of last season with an injury to his right ankle only to be withdrawn from the England squad for Euro 2012 after suffering a stress fracture during his recovery.
Despite having only seven international caps to his name Wilshere is seen as an integral part of Roy Hodgson’s midfield and having been named as Man of the Match in the friendly victory over Brazil last month he would have been a favourite for selection in the up coming qualifiers as the Three Lions attempt to claim their place at the 2014 finals.
Wilshere’s club manager does feel for his star man and hopes it does not lead to anything more serious. Telling BBC Sport Wenger said:
“He has an inflamed ankle, the other ankle to the one he injured before. He will be out for three weeks and will not be available against Munich and Swansea, and not for England.
“He has some bone bruising. The last time it deteriorated into a stress fracture. That’s what we don’t want to happen.
“We trust people who are specialists in this area. He was out for 17 months and we had to deal with it. We must be able to deal with it for two or three games.”
England currently have eight points in Group H and sit second behind Montenegro. They face San Marino on March 22nd before travelling to take on Montenegro four days later for a game which could decide who tops the group.
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