Friday 7 August 2015 13:22, UK
Arsene Wenger has said that Arsenal need to make an early statement of intent in their quest to wrestle the Premier League title from Chelsea's grasp.
Arsenal face two London derbies in August - against West Ham and Crystal Palace - as well as testing games against Liverpool and Newcastle before the end of the month.
Arsenal finished 12 points behind Chelsea last year but Wenger says his priority this season is to lead Arsenal to their first title for over a decade.
He said: "We're ready for a fight and we're motivated to start well. One of our targets is to start strong.
"We have the needed ingredients to succeed but we have a tricky start with two London derbies."
Arsenal will be without Jack Wilshere for the first two months of the campaign but Wenger is confident the midfield schemer could come back sooner than expected from his broken fibula.
He said: "The news that we got on Thursday is that it could be much shorter than expected as it is two weeks in the boot and maybe after he can practice straight away again.
"The positive news with this injury is that it’s not a recurrence of one of his former injuries. It's bad luck and purely accidental. He's down but he's coping with it. He'll play with the same confidence and desire when he comes back."
Alexis Sanchez will not feature against West Ham this weekend but Wenger is happy with the condition of the Chile striker on his return from his Copa America involvement.
He said: "He (Sanchez) came back in good shape and should be available to play in 10 days. He played a World Cup, played a whole season, the Copa America and cannot start the season.
"The difficulty is to find holidays for your players. The season starts so early that you could end up with your youth team playing."
Wenger also dismissed suggestions that he might be tempted into a bid for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema before the transfer window closes.
Wenger said: "I never came out on Benzema. It is just media talk. When Sanchez and Welbeck are back, we feel we have the needed striking force."
