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Arsenal handed double injury boost ahead of Stoke

By mac14 on September 10, 2015

Image credit: Express

Arsenal have been handed a timely double injury boost with Arsene Wenger confirming that Laurent Koscienly and Per Mertesacker should be fit to face Stoke this weekend.

Koscielny was a doubt after aggravating a back injury while away with the France squad during the international break and was forced to miss their win over Serbia on Monday night.

There was talk that the 30-year-old may have to sit out the Stoke game too but Arsene has confirmed that the centre-back is ‘okay’ and trained on Wednesday without issue.

The boss also revealed that Mertesacker is back in full training after missing our last two matches against Newcastle and Liverpool through illness.

Wenger is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

“Koscielny is okay. He trained yesterday and he has no problem. All the players who have been away on international duty have come back in good shape.

“We should have the same squad available. Mertesacker is back in training as well, so we will have to decide how fit he is on Saturday. Nobody came back (from international duty) injured.”

It’s great to have both Kos and Per available and as much as I’d like to see Gabriel keep his place in defence after two outstanding displays, I think it would be wise for Mertesacker to come back in this weekend.

Stoke are a big, physical side and we not only need Per’s height to cope with their aerial threat but we also need his experience to deal with them in the battle.

The positive news on Koscielny and Mertesacker comes at a good time as the boss also revealed this morning that Jack Wilshere has suffered a minor setback while he confirmed that Danny Welbeck will be out until at least Christmas.