Wenger welcomes Gibbs’ return as injury crisis eases
Wenger reported no fresh fitness worries following Sunday’s 3-2 FA Cup fourth-round win over Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium, where they had trailed 2-0 at half-time.
Right-back Bacary Sagna came on for the closing stages for a first appearance since breaking his ankle against Tottenham in October, and the imminent return of England international left-back Gibbs after three months out following groin surgery will be another timely boost, with Carl Jenkinson and Andre Santos both still on the recovery trail.
Switzerland international Johan Djourou has also shrugged off a calf problem picked up in the defeat against Manchester United, so will bolster a defence which is slowly starting to have balance again following a period where four centre-halves were deployed across the backline.
“He had a normal training session yesterday,” Wenger said. “Kieran is still short to play now, but it is good news to have him back.
“I think one or two more weeks practice will get him back to being available again, that is very positive.”
Wenger, however, urged caution with expecting too much too soon from France international Sagna.
He said: “Sagna is a bit early still (to say for tomorrow) but you never know.
“I might consider it because I have to check all the recoveries of the players who played on Sunday.”
Wenger admits his players will have to dig deep to find the energy to go again at Bolton having producing a rousing second-half performance against Villa to book their place in the last 16.
“It was a very demanding game physically,” he said. “Now it is important that we recover and prepare well for tomorrow night.”
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis admits his club will never be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in the transfer market but believes Wenger’s focus on developing young players is the correct way to run a football club.
Gazidis told Fox: “It (our model) does mean we can’t afford to compete with oil money, and we can’t afford to compete with super-wealthy individuals from Russia. But I think the more important thing about our model is that it’s sustainable.
“If we’ve learned anything from the world’s economic crisis, it has to be that football clubs need to have responsibility — not just for today, but for their own futures.
“And our business model means that we can continue to do what we’re doing forever.
“We play football in a certain way, a little bit different to everyone else and we develop our team (in a way) that’s a little bit different to everybody else.
“Yes, we can’t afford to spend £50-70m on an individual player. But, we’re proud of the way we do things, and we’re proud of the results that we’re able to produce from that.’’
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