Jack Wilshere is looking ever so good as he continues his slow but steady progress with another fine outing for the Arsenal U-21s. Jack and his teammates strolled to a 2-0 victory over Reading in yesterday’s match. Besides Jack, there was further good news for Arsenal as Bacary Sagna took part in the game as well marking his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt since he broke his leg in May. The other first team players who also participated in the match were Emmanuel Frimpong and Andre Santos, as Arsene Wenger looks to give his Brazilian left back more practice now that he is the left back of choice since Kieran Gibbs is injured.
However, all eyes were on Wilshere and how he performed in his second competitive match since his injury in June 2011. Jack played for 78 minutes, which was a little longer than his hour long run out last week. In that time he looked very much like his old self, always running and asking for the ball. More importantly, he was involved in both goals, laying on the assist for Serge Gnabry and Chuba Akpom to score the goals that won the match. Also, he did not shy away from making tackles and got stuck in whenever it was needed. This is a good sign that he is making great progress and would not be long before he is available for selection in the first team. It is believed that Arsene Wenger will probably give him some game time in the Carling Cup against Reading before selecting him for any Premiership action.
As for Sagna, since it was his first game back in action since his broken (the second time in a year), he got about 60 minutes under his belt. His progress is about the same as Wilshere’s and should be available for selection at the end of the month as well. Although Carl Jenkinson is doing great as the right back at the moment, it would be good to have the Frenchman available once again.
“It is amazing to be back, I have been waiting for this moment for five months,” Sagna said. “This was my target: to come back and play, firstly for the under-21 team. Everything went well and we won, so I am very happy”.
