Arsene Wenger declared that Jack Wilshere is close to being back to his best after Arsenal’s Europa League win against Bate Borisov.
Wilshere was excellent in the 4-2 victory in Belarus, where Theo Walcott scored twice, Rob Holding also netted and Olivier Giroud got his 100th Arsenal goal.
And Gunners boss Wenger was full of praise for Wilshere, who set up two of the goals.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Wenger said: “He was outstanding in the first half and he fought to the end. He has shown that he has not lost his quality.
“He is on the way back to his best and he showed that. He has been stopped by injuries and I just pray he is not hampered by any more – then you will see him get stronger.”
Having dominated much of the game, Arsenal were much less comfortable in the later stages – but Wenger was nevertheless happy with their display.
“The last 25 minutes were a bit more difficult but overall I’m pleased with the performance,” he said.
“We had a team that was a mixture of experienced players and young players and we had good cohesion and played football he way we want to play.”