Wilshere set for six week injury lay-off

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere faces six weeks on the sidelines after suffering a hairline fracture in his left foot during England’s friendly against Denmark.

The 22-year-old frantically waved his arms in pain after his foot was caught by Daniel Agger in a robust challenge in the 12th minute of Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Wembley.

Wilshere returned to the field after treatment and played on until the 59th minute, revealing afterwards he suffered no ill effects from the challenge.

However, Arsenal followed-up the FA’s initial scans yesterday and found a fracture which will see the midfielder miss the next six weeks.

“Jack Wilshere has sustained a hairline fracture to the navicular bone in his left foot,” a joint statement by Arsenal and the FA said.

“Jack will now require a period of approximately six weeks’ rehabilitation, before starting to regain his match fitness.”

The injury is a huge blow to Arsenal and will no doubt have been a huge surprise to Wilshere, who confidently told reporters after the match that he was fine.

“It is a bit sore, but just a bruise,” he said. “I have had a scan already and I will be all right.”

The prognosis means Wilshere will miss at least eight Arsenal matches, before possibly making his Premier League return in the trip to Hull on April 19.

As well as harming the Gunners hopes of silverware, that will give the midfielder little time to get himself match fit before Roy Hodgson names his World Cup squad on May 13.

The fracture was so miniscule that the scanning equipment within Wembley failed to detect it when Wilshere left the pitch.

It is understood the England medical team only decided to scan Wilshere’s foot as a precaution and there was no indication from the results that the player had suffered a fracture.

It was only when Arsenal conducted a more detailed examination of the injured area that extent of the problem became apparent.