Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain feared out for rest of season with groin injury

Arsenal are set to be without the services of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain for the rest of the season as the midfielder is unlikely to recover from a groin injury he incurred in their game against Manchester United on 9 March.

The Mirror reports that the player may not need surgery but there are signs that the midfielder will miss the rest of the campaign and also Arsenal's FA Cup final clash against Aston Villa on 30 May.

The midfielder returned to first team action in Arsenal's 3-1 loss to Monaco at home in the first leg of the Champions League after recovering from a hamstring injury.

He scored Arsenal's only goal in the game to halve the deficit but gave the ball away in injury time to allow the French club to raise a counter attack and score their third which effectively killed the tie for the Gunners.

Chamberlain also made the first goal against United to give Arsenal the lead after carving his way past the opposition defence and laying the ball to Nacho Monreal to finish with aplomb.

This is the second time that Chamberlain will be missing Arsenal's quest for FA Cup glory, having been ruled out of their game against Hull City in the finals last year.

However, with Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck in reserve, Arsene Wenger has a lot of options on his bench to compensate for the speedster, whose development has been deeply affected by these intermittent setbacks.

Arsenal's injury crisis has alleviated over the past month, especially with Jack Wilshere coming back from a lengthy layoff to be on the bench in the Gunners' 2-1 win over Reading in the semi-finals.

Mikel Arteta is back in full training but is not yet ready to return to the first team, being out for over four months with a calf problem. Mathieu Debuchy, who had dislocated his shoulder against Stoke City in January, also completed 120 minutes against Reading and is likely to reclaim his place against Chelsea this weekend.