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Injury boost for Arsenal as key player returns to training, might start against Stoke

Hector Bellerin in Training

Arsenal have received a major injury boost with Hector Bellerin returning to full training on Friday ahead of the game against Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.

The 21-year-old, who has been sidelined for a month after sustaining an ankle injury in the north London derby against Tottenham.

The Spaniard has missed six games in all competitions and the Gunners were missing him dearly as Carl Jenkinson and Mathieu Debuchy struggling to fill the void left by Hector at right-back.

The Youngster has returned to light training at the start of the week and Wenger confirmed at his pre-match press conference that Bellerin would face a fitness test to see if he’ll be available to take on Stoke.

The fitness test was supposed to take place on Thursday as per Wenger’s comments and it looks likely that Hector has been passed fit as he was able to take part in full training with the rest of the squad at London Colney on Friday.

Here a photo from Friday’s training session.

Bellerin is crucially important to the prospects of this team. His athleticism and his pace, both in attacking and defensive areas, make huge differences to the way the team plays on the whole.

In the Spaniard’s absence, Gabriel Paulista have filled in at right-back, with the latter performing extremely well in victories over Bournemouth, West Ham United and Basel.

Rushing the defender back into the starting lineup would be the worst decision to make. With a packed festive schedule ahead, with some major games against Manchester City on the horizon, it would be foolish to risk the sustained health of Bellerin in a game against a lesser side when Gabriel Paulista has been a dependable replacement recently.

Should Wenger start Bellerin against Stoke City?

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