Should Arsenal’s forgotten 23-year-old start against Reading?

The buzz around Arsenal this week mainly surrounded Jack Wilshere who captained the U-21 side in his long awaited return from injury. He featured alongside the likes of Diaby and although the match wasn’t his first outing with the second team since his return, word from the Arsenal camp is that it was his sharpest and most complete.

Wenger confirmed yesterday that Wilshere has “improved physically” and that the player should be available for selection today.

Should he be thrown straight back into the side? I suspect he will feature at some point regardless but it is too soon to start him in a match just yet I feel.

He has missed a significant amount of football this season, having been sidelined since November, so to start in a match of this magnitude right away would come as a bit of a surprise for me. Forget the opponent for a second, Wilshere will need a few weeks to regain full fitness and sharpness.

He has been back in training for a while, but match competition is a totally different animal. He will get a run today, but it won’t be from the start. Wenger and Arsenal will be thrilled to have the player back still. The middle of the park could always use some freshening up especially as the legs get tired toward the end of the campaign.

It is all hands to the pump time now for Arsenal so Wilshere’s return is a welcome one. Let’s hope his injury problems are a thing of the past now.

Driving Arsenal to success?