Wenger - My options in central midfield

Arsene Wenger says Francis Coquelin’s absence is a “good opportunity” for other members of his squad to prove their quality.

The Arsenal manager confirmed on Monday that he will be without the French midfielder for “at least a month” after Coquelin sustained a knee injury at West Brom.

 

Wenger has Mathieu Flamini as a ready-made replacement, but says he will also consider Calum Chambers.

 

“We don’t know yet [how big a blow it is to lose Coquelin],” the manager said. “It is of course a disappointment to lose him on the longer term but we have players who can compensate. We have lost a player of quality for a while and we know this can happen during the season.

“We have players who play in this position, like Flamini. We have players like Chambers [too], because he has been educated as a central midfielder.

“Sometimes this is a good opportunity for other players to turn up and show they can do the job.”

Wenger confirmed that Aaron Ramsey will be available again after a month out with a hamstring injury, but he may not play him against Zagreb on Tuesday.

“I have 24 more hours [to decide],” he said. “He’s had just one training session with the team and of course that’s a bit risky. But I haven’t completely decided yet.”