Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is waiting to see whether Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott will be fit for their clash with Southampton.
Wenger to run rule over Diaby and Walcott
Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is waiting to see whether Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott will be fit for their clash with Southampton.
Midfield ace Diaby returned from international duty with France carrying a hip injury, whilst Walcott picked up a virus whilst with England.
Wenger will now wait until Friday to check on the pair, but he is also mindful of the busy schedule they have coming up as they begin their Champions League campaign next week.
On Diaby, he told Arsenal's website: "He will have a test on Friday morning and we will go from there.
"At the moment he is 50:50. It is a small muscular problem that is very minor.
"But of course we are in the situation that, because we play so many games now, should we take a gamble or not with him? We are playing on Saturday, on Tuesday and then we go to Manchester City.
"Theo Walcott is in bed with a virus. He missed the England game with a virus. He should be back today [Thursday], so we will have to see how well he has recovered from that."
Wojciech Szczesny is ready to return for the clash, having missed their last two games with a rib injury.
"Lukasz Fabianski is out with a shoulder problem. He has come back from Poland with a shoulder problem and Wojciech is perfectly fit and ready. He will be in the squad," he said.
Full squad
Wenger then confirmed that he could have his full complement of players within the next few weeks, with Jack Wilshere, Emmanuel Frimpong, Bacary Sagna and Tomas Rosicky closing on returns.
"Wilshere is not far away. Sagna is not far away. At the moment the injured players look like they are recovering well," he said.
"The main injuries are Frimpong who is recovering well, Wilshere is short-term, Sagna around two weeks and Rosicky around two to three weeks."
Wenger admits he is looking forward to having Frimpong back.
"He is very close. He joins the squad again next week for complete, normal training," he said.
"It is very good news because he is really fit and ready. He has worked very hard and we are amazed how good he looks at the moment."
