Jack Wilshere has been ruled out of Arsenal’s Champions League group game against Anderlecht on Tuesday after a virus delayed his return to training from a minor knee injury.
The England midfielder had been ruled out of Saturday’s victory over Burnley after suffering discomfort in the joint in training last week but had tentatively been pencilled in to return against the Belgian club as Arsène Wenger’s team attempt to secure their qualification for the knockout phase. However, he could not train over the weekend due to illness and will not be included in the squad for the game at the Emirates.
Wilshere was at London Colney working away from the main group, with Arsenal expected to retain the side that won 3-0 against the Clarets in his absence. “Jack has been sick and will not be involved tomorrow,” said Wenger, who is without eight first-team players through injury at present. “The squad is exactly the same who played against Burnley.” Wenger confirmed that the 22-year-old should be available for Sunday’s game at Swansea, and therefore for England’s fixtures against Slovenia and Scotland in the forthcoming international window.
Aaron Ramsey had suffered from the same bug last week and Arsenal initially feared they might be suffering from what has almost become an annual virus within the camp. The club were afflicted by a similar illness a year ago before a game against Manchester United and had even banned handshakes between members of the squad two seasons ago after an outbreak at Colney ruled out a quartet of players and several members of the backroom staff. However, the spread of the bug appears to have been checked, with only the two midfielders having been affected.
Ramsey, who had complained of feeling unwell before the win at Sunderland, was able to play 27 minutes from the bench on Saturday and should be involved at some stage again in midweek. Theo Walcott, who made his first appearance of the season with a cameo from the bench against Burnley, is expected to be among the substitutes again as Arsenal seek to smooth their progress out of Group D. Victory and a similar success for the leaders, Borussia Dortmund, against Galatasaray would see both clubs through.
Wenger would welcome a callup for Walcott for England’s fixtures as the winger seeks to work on his fitness. “He needs competition and games,” added the Arsenal manager. “I’m happy for him to go with England. For us, [the international break] is a rest period with no one here, and he needs hard training. We have had a lot of long-term injuries: Giroud, Theo, Debuchy, Özil and Ospina. But they are slowly all getting better. Theo is the first to come back. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
