Arsenal’s injury crisis grew from worrisome to alarming after the club’s Capital One Cup exit on Tuesday.
The Gunners, whose fine form as of late has seen them beat Bayern in the Champions League and climb to second in the English Premier League charts, level on points with leaders Man City, lost 3-0 to Sheffield Wednesday.
However, what was more of a concern to the manager and fans than the embarrassing score line was the fitness of their players, as both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott succumbed to injury.
Neither will return prior to the November international break, with Theo facing a longer spell on the sidelines that his England compatriot; nonetheless, manager Arsene Wenger insists that the north London side can deal with the current injury crisis.
On Saturday, Arsenal will travel to the Liberty Stadium to lock horns with Swansea, with eight players out with injury: Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mikel Arteta, Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey, David Ospina, and Tomas Rosicky.
Despite this, Le Prof remains adamant that his team have options. Speaking ahead of the weekend clash, Wenger said:
"We will find solutions and I have to find the right one.
"I trust my medical and coaching staff to do well. We are very well organised on that front.
“[Oxlade-Chamberlain] will be 20 days, [Walcott] a bit longer. But we have shown we can deal with injuries.
“That is always the question you have to answer with injuries. You have to analyse every single case but also you can’t over-analyse. Injuries happen.
“My options are [Joel] Campbell or put another defensive midfielder such as Flamini or put Cazorla on the flank. I still have 24 hours to decide.”
