Arsène Wenger has confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should be fit for this summer’s European Championship.
As revealed by The Times this morning, the England midfielder will not require surgery on the knee ligament damage he sustained in last week’s Champions League round-of-16 first-leg defeat by Barcelona, and should be fit to return by the end of next month.
Oxlade-Chamberlain will then have a handful of Barclays Premier League games to prove his form and fitness before Roy Hodgson names his 23-man squad for the tournament in France.
“He will be out for six to eight weeks,” Wenger said. “No surgery. We feared surgery at some stage before we saw the MRI. In the end we got, on that front, positive news. The next eight weeks means [he will miss] March and April. He should be okay for the Euros.”
Wenger has called on Arsenal’s fans to unite behind the team during the Premier League run-in. Wenger’s side have slipped to five points behind Leicester City following Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester United and the manager is anxious to ensure an upbeat atmosphere for tomorrow’s match against Swansea City at the Emirates Stadium.
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“What you want from your fans is to fight together until the last game of the season,” Wenger said. “What we have learnt from the league is that it is very tight, that everybody can drop points, and the teams - and the fans - who can show togetherness and solidarity until the end, might come out of it in a positive way. That’s what we want, to fight together until the last game of the season and not give up when you have a bad game or a bad result. That’s what fans and players and teams and clubs are about.
“We had a very, very bad week and it’s down to us to make this week a very good one. It’s as simple as that and that’s why you love competition. A bad week is not permanent, it’s what you make of it and how you respond. That’s the beauty of sport. Things change quickly one way or the other. That’s beautiful as well.”