[Photos] Arsenal duo return to training ahead of FA Cup clash

Per Mertesacker and Mathieu Debuchy have been snapped back in full training today as Arsenal prepare for our FA Cup trip to Southampton.

Mertesacker is yet to feature for the first team this season due to a knee injury that he suffered in pre-season while his comeback was further delayed after he sustained a calf problem in training last month.

Debuchy has also endured another frustrating campaign with a hamstring injury keeping the French international right-back out for over two months.

The experienced duo have been undertaking light training in recent weeks but they have now returned to full training with the rest of the first team squad today.

It’s going to be a few weeks before they’ll be fit enough to be in contention for a place in the squad but it’s still great to see them back out on the pitches at London Colney and their return means that Santi Cazorla is now our only long-term injury concern.

Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff put the players through their paces today ahead of our trip to St Mary’s in the fourth round of the FA Cup tomorrow and the boss is expected to rest a number of key players.

That could open the door for some of our youngsters to make the squad and Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are set to be involved as they trained with the first team this afternoon.

You can see photos of Mertesacker, Reine-Adelaide and Maitland-Niles in training today while there are a couple of showing Debuchy in the background too.

Here are some photos courtesy of Arsenal’s Getty images account: