LONDON -- Arsenal defender Mathieu Debuchy fears his latest injury is a "severe one" after lasting just 15 minutes in his comeback on Sunday, Arsene Wenger said, while Olivier Giroud may also have a hamstring problem.
Debuchy made his first appearance of the season -- and first Arsenal start in more than a year -- in the Gunners' 3-1 Premier League victory over Bournemouth at the Emirates.
But the Frenchman, who has struggled to recover from a calf injury he suffered in August, seemed to pull his hamstring after just 15 minutes and was replaced by Gabriel Paulista.
Wenger said it was too early to give a proper diagnosis, but that Debuchy himself was worried the injury could be serious.
"He thinks it's a severe one," Wenger said. "I have to speak to the medical people. You can only assess it really after 48 hours, you have to let it bleed.
"Usually they have an MRI 48 hours later when the bleeding is over to see how big the damage is."
Wenger was also worried about Giroud, after the striker said he felt pain in his hamstring after he came on as a second-half substitute.
"We have to see how big the damage is," Wenger said. "On his first movement, he told me he felt a twitch at the back of his hamstring, and let's see. I hope it's not too bad because he told me after that when he sprinted he didn't feel anything."
Debuchy's injury continues a frustrating pattern for the Frenchman, who has struggled with injuries throughout 2016 but finally had a chance for regular playing time because of an ankle injury to Hector Bellerin.
This was his first Arsenal start since last November, as he pushed for a loan move in January to Bordeaux to get more playing time. He still ended up missing Euro 2016 with a thigh injury, and then suffered a calf problem in August that kept him out until now.
Wenger said it was devastating to see him suffer another setback.
"When you see the heart he puts into his job, and the quality of his commitment, and you see how he is now in the dressing room, we are all devastated for him," Wenger told Sky Sports.
"And on top of that he was very sharp, he started very well. And it's a backheel that killed him, that's the most dangerous for your hamstring, a strong backheel. It was quite an outstanding pass, but he did it on that."
Wenger left right-back Carl Jenkinson out of the squad completely after he started Arsenal's previous two games, even though the Gunners boss said he knew there was a risk Debuchy would suffer another setback.
But the manager said he felt Gabriel and Francis Coquelin were both options to play right-back if needed.
"I imagined that something can happen to [Debuchy]," Wenger said. "I had Coquelin who was ready to play right-back as well. But I have gone for Gabriel, because he is more a defender and he's very quick.
"And he adapted well. I watched tapes of him of playing full-back at Villarreal, two or three times he played left-back. I found only one tape of him playing in Brazil as a right-back, and I must say it was not super convincing. But I think today he did well."