Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he has an almost full squad to choose from ahead of tonight’s Europa League round of 16 second-leg versus AC Milan.
The Gunners had injury concerns to key defenders heading into the encounter, but every one of them appear to have passed the fitness test.
Speaking ahead of the Milan game, Wenger revealed that the club are back to near full strength, thus meaning that the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal are in contention for the Rossoneri game.
Wenger, however, confirmed that Alexandre Lacazette won’t be able to make the encounter, having only recently gone through his first full session after his knee surgery, he said:
“Basically, some players had a test this morning. Everybody’s available apart from Lacazette who is coming back into training, but is too short to be available for tomorrow.”
Apart from the above-mentioned trio, the likes of Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey are also expected to feature on Thursday night after being completely rested for the weekend Premier League win over Watford.
With a two-week international break due to follow, Wenger has the opportunity to play the strongest possible line-up against Milan without the worries over the league schedule, and the team should progress to the quarter-final stage of the Europa League, barring a disaster.
The Gunners nearly succumbed to a shock Europa League exit at the hands of Ostersund during the previous round, but this should not happen with a full-strength side at the manager’s disposal, alongside a 2-0 advantage from the first-leg at San Siro.
