Jack Wilshere was recently substituted much earlier in the recent 1-0 win over Tottenham during the weekend. This spelled bad news for England and Roy Hodgson because they have two crucial World Cup qualifying matches in the next few days.
England have already lost a number of key personnel just prior to this match. The likes of Liverpool defender Glen Johnson and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney are unlikely to be involved in the match after missing matches for the club during the weekend. Wilshere is seen as one of the important players for the England national team.
It was also the opinion of captain Steven Gerrard when he spoke freely about the 20-year-old in the last England match press conferences. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, though, has given a huge boost for England’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup by saying that the midfielder will be fit for the international matches.
He said that the 20-year-old was taken off much earlier than expected because of a stomach bug. It is a problem that affected players like Bacary Sagna ahead of the match, but Wenger decided to start with the 20-year-old in this crucial encounter.
Tottenham came into the match after having spent £ 100 million and several new players, but it was yet another disappointment at the Emirates.
“He has a stomach bug, but nothing that will stop him from playing for England. I’d have an online bet on him starting. It was an illness, we had two sick players before the game. One became worse just before the game which was Sagna, and Wilshere was a bit better so I decided to play Wilshere and not Sagna, who couldn’t play,” said Wenger.
This was the first home victory in the league this season for Arsenal, while it was also their rival Tottenham’s first defeat of the season.