Aaron Ramsey eager to return to action after injury comeback

Aaron Ramsey has revealed that he is eager to get back to playing after returning to training following two months on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. The Welshman has not played for Arsenal since the opening Premier League weekend loss to Liverpool, and Arsene Wenger revealed that he is not too far away from making a return to the first-team.

The Wales international has taken longer than expected to return from the hamstring injury, which was initially expected to keep him out for just four weeks. He has missed 13 games for club and country since his injury and the manager has now admitted that he needs a full pre-season style training to get back his match fitness.

The 25-year-old midfielder returned to training ahead of Arsenal's Champions League game against Ludogorets, but similar to Olivier Giroud, he was training away from the rest of the first-team squad. Ramsey posted a picture of himself on the training pitch at the Gunners' London Colney training base and wrote: "Can't wait to get back out there," via his official Instagram account.

Ramsey will have a fight on his hands to reclaim his place in the starting lineup as he has now fallen behind Santi Cazorla, Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin in the pecking order for a place in the deep lying midfielder's role. Wenger is unlikely to rush him back to action, as he has significant cover with Mohamed Elneny also vying for a place along with the aforementioned quartet.

Per Mertesacker is also keen to get back to action after suffering a knee injury during pre-season, but admitted that he is not close to making a return. The German defender, who is yet to play this season, is still undergoing treatment and revealed that his knee has responded positively to the treatment.

"My body has responded quite well to everything. My muscles are coming back and it is a painless process because my knee feels good. I'm quite happy with the progress but there's still a lot to do. In terms of when I'll be back, there is no schedule because I'm going from week to week," Mertesacker said, as quoted by the London Evening Standard.

"When you are injured, you have to be very positive from the start and think that you are already working your way back to the pitch. That was my mindset from when I knew I needed surgery. Because I've got good experiences with injury, I trust myself.

"I knew I had to pick myself up quickly to get into that mindset. I wanted to be positive and involve the best people I could to get fit as quickly as possible," the 2014 World Cup winner added.