Arsene Wenger has expressed his doubts over goalkeeper Petr Cech’s return to the Arsenal starting lineup for Saturday’s home game to Watford.
The Arsenal number one has been unavailable since a home loss to Swansea almost a month ago when he strained his calf muscle chasing back towards goal as his team chased a late equaliser.
During the international break Cech had expressed his hope that he would be available for a crucial match in Arsenal’s fading title charge however Wenger has expressed his doubts.
“Cech is going back to normal training,” Wenger said. “It’s too early to say if he will be available for the weekend.
“He might be a bit short to be competitive.”
Whilst David Ospina picked up a knock in Colombia’s World Cup qualifying victory over Bolivia he is not expected to be an injury concern having played the full 90 minutes in his country’s following match against Ecuador.
Aaron Ramsey was another hoping to return in time for the Watford game having injured himself just six days after Cech in a 4-0 win away to Hull. He is now not expected to be available until next week’s trip to West Ham.
Arsenal's Premier League run-in
However, in more encouraging news for Wenger, both Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky have returned to full training having played just seven minutes of competitive football between them this season.
Wilshere has not appeared since the pre-season win over Wolfsburg but Wenger is impressed by his return to full training.
“It is his first week back in full training and we’ll see how he responds to that, but the first signs are quite good. We’ll assess our options next week.”
The 24-year-old remains in contention for England’s Euro 2016 squad with manager Roy Hodgson having suggested he would take the midfielder so long as he could prove his match fitness.
