Jack Wilshere will return from injury in a 'couple of days' after allaying fears of long-term absence

Arsene Wenger has been handed a major boost ahead of Arsenal's fixture against Bournemouth on Sunday (14 January) after Jack Wilshere confirmed that the ankle injury he sustained during the Gunners' recent draw against Chelsea was not as bad as first feared.

The 26-year-old midfielder limped off with an ankle injury 57 minutes into the stalemate in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals against the Blues and the manager was unsure of the extent of the injury after confirming that it was a ligament injury.

Wilshere has a long history with ankle injury and has missed big chunks of game time in recent campaigns. The English midfielder is having his best spell in terms of playing regularly after a number of years and was hoping that his current knock would be short-term. He has made 22 appearances across all competitions this season.

Arsene Wenger was optimistic that it was short-term and will now be delighted to hear that Wilshere could be available for their clash against the Cherries. The French coach admitted that the England international's absence would leave them short in midfield owing to Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil being sidelined with injuries at the moment. Francis Coquelin is also not available after the Frenchman completed a permanent move to Valencia on Thursday.

Wilshere, who was handed the captain's armband for the game against Chelsea, thanked all his well-wishers for the kind messages following his injury and confirmed that he will be back in a couple of days.

"Thanks for all the messages and support after last night. Good news is I should be back in a couple of days," Wilshere wrote on his official Twitter account on Thursday (11 January).

The midfielder, who will be out of contract at the end of the season, will be happy as another long-term absence would have probably derailed his ongoing talks with the club over a new deal. Wilshere is keen to remain at the Emirates for the foreseeable future and is hoping to agree a new deal by the end of this month.