Aaron Ramsey is on course to return for Arsenal in their FA Cup semi-final against Wigan Athletic a week on Saturday after coming back into full training, and Arsène Wenger is even hopeful that the midfielder could be available for Sunday’s vital Premier League fixture at Everton.
Ramsey has not played since the Boxing Day victory at West Ham United, in which he damaged a thigh muscle, and various attempts over recent weeks to step up his fitness work have ended in frustration. Wenger said last week that Ramsey’s troublesome tendon was in a sensitive area and the balance between pushing and pushing too hard in training was delicate.
Ramsey was arguably the Premier League’s best player over the first half of the season, with 13 goals for Arsenal and a series of driving performances, and his absence has hit the club hard. The 23-year-old, though, has finally enjoyed a breakthrough, with Wenger reporting that both he and the left-back Nacho Monreal, who has been out for three weeks with a foot injury, had rejoined the squad. “So that is good news,” the manager said. “Hopefully, they will be available for Sunday.”
Mesut Özil, however, will miss the Cup semi-final and the league game at home to West Ham United on Tuesday week, with the visit to Hull City on 19 April having been pencilled in for his comeback. The record signing has been back in his native Germany with the club’s blessing, undergoing his rehabilitation from the hamstring tear that he suffered in the Champions League last-16 second leg at Bayern Munich on 11 March.
Laurent Koscielny is on a similar timetable as he fights to overcome a calf problem. It is hoped that the French defender will return to full training inside 10 days and be available for selection at Hull. Jack Wilshere’s comeback date from his foot fracture is 3 May – the penultimate weekend of the league season – while another midfielder, Abou Diaby, has returned to training after his long-term knee ligament injury. Diaby remains unlikely to feature this season.
“The FA Cup will be too soon for Özil but he will hopefully be back soon after that,” Wenger said. “The earliest Koscielny will be back [in training] is next week; the latest is the week after. Diaby is back on the pitches so that is good news.”
The Guardian.
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