Arsenal Injury News: Theo Walcott to Make Return in U21 Clash Against Blackburn Rovers

Arsenal have received a major injury boost ahead of the upcoming fixtures, with Theo Walcott, Serge Gnabry and Mikel Arteta all returning to first team training.

Walcott is reportedly set to make his first appearance in nine months for the Gunners in an U21 clash against Blackburn Rovers.

According to Goal, the 25-year-old striker, who has not featured for Arsenal since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during the 2-0 win against Tottenham in the FA Cup in January, is in contention for a place in the team.

Walcott returned to first-team training earlier in the week and barring any setbacks, he is set to be included in the squad that will take on Rovers at Boreham Wood.

Serge Gnabry could also feature for the Gunners, as the German youngster also made his return to first-team training on Monday after recovering from a knee injury he sustained in April.

The two wingers will not be ready to face Hull City at the weekend but could return the following week or for the midweek Champions League fixture against Anderlecht.

Apart from Walcott and Gnabry, Arsenal skipper Mikel Arteta has also returned to first-team training after missing the games against Galatasaray and Chelsea with a calf strain.

The report also claims that Aaron Ramsey's recovery from the hamstring injury he sustained against Tottenham is progressing well and he is just behind the Gunners' skipper in returning to full training.

Meanwhile, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed that he knew Alexis Sanchez would score the free-kick against Southampton the moment he stepped over the ball.

The Chilean took a sublime free-kick against the Saints in the Capital One Cup to give the Gunners the lead, but Arsenal eventually went on to lose the game 2-1.

"To be fair, I knew he was going to do that because in the warm-up he had four in a row in front of a lot of fans. When he stood up to take the free-kick in the game I said to Kieran, 'this is going in, you should have seen him in the warm-up', and he put it top corner," Chamberlain told Arsenal's official site.