Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger sure Jack Wilshere will come back stronger

Arsene Wenger has no doubts that Jack Wilshere will return stronger than ever as the Arsenal midfielder continues his recovery after being sidelined for 14 months.

The 20-year-old, who missed the whole of last season with knee and ankle problems, continued his rehabilitation on Wednesday when he played 90 minutes in a friendly game at Arsenal’s London Colney training base.

With Wilshere having been out of action for such a prolonged period, there have been concerns over whether the England international will suffer from any long-term effects of his injury nightmare.

But Wenger has moved to play down such concerns and is backing the midfielder to pick up where he left off.

“You can have apprehension after a serious injury,” Wenger said. “In your memory you have a moment where you have been hit and you will try to avoid getting in the same position again.

“For example, if you protect the ball and somebody tackles you from behind and kills your knee, when you come back it will be difficult to protect the ball in the same position. People may not notice but many times the players does not get in that position where he has been vulnerable.

“The other problem – with Eduardo for example – was that he had a restriction of his ankle movement, which is a massive problem for a football player.

“Jack has none of that – he was not injured in a specific tackle. He had a stress fracture that came slowly, so he has no memory in the game of having been kicked by anybody or injured by anybody. There is no specific position where he got injured.”