Arsenal midfielder Cazorla could be out until March

“At the moment on Alexis, Santi and Mikel, we don’t know how long they will be out for”, Wenger told the club’s official website.

Arsene Wenger says that while player input does play a role in deciding whether or not he can play in a particular game, it’s not the be all and end all.

They were hoping for players to return, but instead have lost more, with Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla this week both being ruled out for lengthy periods.

Wenger was asked to provide an update on Arsenal’s injury situation ahead of their weekend clash against Sunderland and he explained at a press conference: “The players who were injured last week will not play tomorrow”. He had all the medical science (saying it was okay for him) to play before the game.

Wenger admitted he was concerned about Cazorla’s injury after he “finished the game on one leg” against Norwich.

Koscielny was replaced by Gabriel Paulista during the 1-1 draw against Norwich City after just 11 minutes due to a hip problem.

“Walcott might be back and Koscielny could play”.

Forward Walcott, left-back Gibbs and central midfielder Arteta have all recently been sidelined by calf injuries.

“Your phone is busy every day with people proposing players, That’s an aspect where we have a team to select what’s coming in and what we see”.

“Ideally you want them all to be with you but we are prepared to deal with it”, Wenger said.

“The great opportunity for us is that, despite that bad spell, we are very close.”

Sanchez has scored nine goals in 20 appearances in all competitions so far, while Cazorla has made the deep-lying playmaker role his own this season. It was not an obvious mistake.

Francis Coquelin has been one of Arsenal’s best performers this season, and he needs to be replaced in the forthcoming transfer window to try and stay in the title race.