LONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is confident that he will be able to call on the services of Alexis Sanchez in the next 10 days, while he has revealed that Jack Wilshere's latest injury is not as serious as first feared.
Chile winger Sanchez will miss Sunday's Premier League opener against West Ham after he returned to training later than his Arsenal's teammates following his involvement in this summer's Copa America tournament.
"He came back in surprisingly good shape," Wenger said about his attacking star who scored 16 Premier League goals in his debut season with Arsenal. "Sunday [against West Ham] will certainly come too early, but in 10 days he should be OK."
With Sanchez set to be available for Arsenal's home game against Liverpool on Aug. 24 at the latest, Wenger could soon have all of his top names to select from after the updated status of WIlshere's injury offered a boost to the injury-prone midfielder who has started just 48 Premier League games over the last four seasons.
"It was purely accidental in training," Wenger said of Wilshere's latest injury. "A hairline crack in his fibula, near where they took his screws off [from his ankle problem last season].
"It is a bone injury, so there will be no surprise there. It just needs time to heal. The news we got yesterday is it could be much shorted than expected. It is two weeks in the boot and then he can practice straight away. Hopefully he is ready to play in four weeks."
Wenger has previously discussed Wilshere's difficulty to deal with a succession of injuries that have blighted his young career, but his psychological state after this latest setback is not an area of concern for the Arsenal boss.
"Jack is down, but the good news yesterday helped him to cope with it," he added. "You can never get used that [injuries]. When you want to play football, you ever get used to your body letting you down.
"The positive thing in this injury is it is not a recurrence of one of his former injuries. As well, the positive news with Jack is the history doesn't play a part when he comes back. He plays with the same confidence and desire as before, but of course it's difficult.
"We have all been at that age where he wakes up in the morning and wants to wants to play football and it is mentally difficult to wake up and not be able to do that, it's difficult."