“Jack unfortunately has had a lot of hard moments, but he has shown a lot of character and enthusiasm. Everyone at the club wishes Jack well with his rehabilitation”.
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But the injury is taking longer to heal than anticipated and he now requires surgery, which will keep him out until Christmas.
“It’s not just his pace – his movement is also really clever. It’s not a career-threatening injury”. I am not a specialist, but this was just an accident.
“Arsenal are a top-quality team – better than us – but our aim is not to sit back and defend”, Mamic said at a press conference.
The 65-year-old believes that his players have learnt from last season’s debacle against AS Monaco, when they lost 3-1 in the first leg at home and were unable to overturn the deficit.
There is also an uncomfortable pattern developing. “He can still play again this season“.
Wilshere missed six months of last season after receiving surgery on an ankle injury suffered during the Gunners’ defeat to Manchester United last November.
The problem Arsenal face is that they could be facing some tough teams should they made it out of their group.
“Sometimes, when you are coming back from an injury, you have a vulnerable period, a time when you need to strengthen your body and gain competition”, said Wenger.
“He has an enormous talent and support from every department of the club, and from the players because we feel sorry for him”, he said.
Arsenal travelled to Zagreb without midfielder Aaron Ramsey and full-back Hector Bellerin, who are rested.
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“Cech is keeping clean sheets which is fantastic, Theo Walcott is nicking a goal and Olivier Giroud is scoring off the bench so I’m feeling quite happy about the situation right now”.
