Arsene Wenger says he won’t gamble on the fitness of Samir Nasri Wenger for the Champions League showdown with Barcelona at the Emirates on Wednesday night.
Sidelined Nasri will have fitness tests today and tomorrow to see if he is over a hamstring injury and can feature for the Gunners in the mouth-watering tie against the Catalans.
And it depends on the results of the workouts whether or not Wenger will risk him as try to get past the last 16. He said: “I will not take a crazy gamble. But if he is medically and physically OK. Physically he has worked very hard in the last week. Physically he is ready.
“But is there a risk of a setback? Who isn’t desperate to play in that game. There is another in three weeks and we also have Leyton Orient in the FA Cup and the Carling Cup final. With so many games, it is important not to be stupid.”
Meanwhile, Jack Wilshere has had his say in the run-up to the clash. “We’ve got to change our game a bit to play against Barcelona,” he said. “We’ll learn from last year. When we’ve got the ball, we’ve got to keep it as well as they can. We need to get in their faces and win the ball back and, if you like, be a bit nasty with them. There’s no point one of us going after them. We have to press as a team and get the ball back.”
He added: “I watch Barcelona playing in La Liga and I watch Xavi and Iniesta just run the games. That’s what I want to learn from and do myself. It will be great to play against them.”
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