Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger Bemoans 'Nightmare' Pre-season

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yaya Sanogo will miss the club's pre-season training camp in Austria to work on their fitness ahead of the new season.

New signing Alexis Sanchez will also be absent due to having to go to Paris to get a visa and the trio will remain at the club's London Colney training ground ahead of next weekend's Emirates Cup.

Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a knee injury on the eve of the World Cup and missed all three of England's group matches after enduring a season in and out of the first team

Meanwhile Sanogo, whose opportunities for Arsenal were limited last season, has a thigh problem.

"I wanted Oxlade-Chamberlain to have a good basic work because he lacked that a little bit last season," Wenger said.

"We haven't done a lot of training in the last two days so I wanted him to have a good basic work and stay with the fitness coaches.

"Sanogo didn't come because he had a little thigh problem and we didn't want to take a gamble."

Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat to New York Red Bulls over the weekend in a one-off game in the United States, with Wenger complaining over the demands of the club's schedule.

And the Frenchman has continued his criticism of the summer programme and says the World Cup makes preparing for the new season a "nightmare".

"The real work starts now and then the Emirates Cup this weekend," Wenger added. "The problem is our pre-season will be very short; these post World Cup years are a nightmare for us because we have no preparation."

Upon Arsenal's return from Austria, they face Benfica and Monaco in the Emirates Cup before the Community Shield, the season's traditional curtain raiser, against Manchester City at Wembley.

Though goalkeeper David Ospina and full-back Callum Chambers have become the Gunners' latest additions in the summer transfer window, concerns remain over Theo Walcott's fitness meaning the club face starting the campaign with depleted reserves.