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Double injury boost for Arsenal but duo ruled out of Palace game

By on December 29, 2016

shkodran mustafi arsenal

Arsenal have been handed a double injury boost ahead of our clash with Crystal Palace but two other players have been ruled out of the game.

Arsene Wenger gave a team news update to Arsenal.com earlier this afternoon and he’s confirmed that Shkodran Mustafi has recovered from his hamstring injury and will be back in the squad this weekend.

Mustafi has been a huge miss since suffering the injury against Stoke as we’ve lost two of the three games he’s missed so it’s a big boost to have the German international available again.

There was also positive news regarding the fitness of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as the boss revealed that the midfielder will resume full training on Saturday after missing the win over West Brom with a hamstring injury.

The Ox limped out of the defeat at Man City 11 days ago but thankfully his hamstring injury wasn’t serious and he may even be passed fit to return to the squad on Sunday afternoon.

However, one man who will miss the game is Theo Walcott as Wenger has confirmed that the England international is still feeling the effects of the calf injury that kept him out of the win over West Brom.

Kieran Gibbs is also set to sit out the visit of Palace on Sunday after limping off with a knee injury last time out. The good news is that it’s only inflammation so Gibbsy should be back in action soon.

Wenger also says that Danny Welbeck is progressing well as he looks to rebuild his fitness having returned to full training following seven months on the sidelines with a knee cartilage injury.

However, after such a long time out I don’t think the club will rush Welbeck back too soon so we should probably expect to see him back in contention at some point next month.

It’s going to be a major boost to have Danny available again and I think he’ll be a real asset to the squad during the second half of the season.

Here is what Wenger said to Arsenal’s official website:

on the Ox, Gibbs, Walcott and Welbeck…
Alex looks like he could join in normal training on Saturday. From the last game, I think we lose Kieran Gibbs. It’s not big damage to his knee but he has inflammation and I don’t think he will be available. Danny Welbeck is doing well in training, so we have plenty of options. Theo Walcott will still be short.

on Mustafi…
Shkodran is back in normal training and he will be back in the squad.

on Gibbs’ scan…
On Wednesday he had a scan, but it just showed inflammation. Hopefully it’s a short-term injury.