Wilshere suffers fresh injury setback

Arsene Wenger has insisted he still believes Arsenal will secure Champions League football next season despite the continued absence of midfield tyro Jack Wilshere.

The Gunners are currently in fifth place in the standings, four points behind Tottenham but they have a gane in hand on their north London rivals.

Wenger is hopeful Wilshere, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, will return in a fortnight for the Norwich game.

"We've got nine games to go - five at home and four away," said the Arsenal manager. "The form we showed against Bayern was very good. We have a chance to finish in the top four.

"We have the experience of a few years and a special desire to do it together. It's a good opportunity for us. We want to grab this chance. If we are consistent we will do it. We're not focused on Tottenham, but the way we want to play.

"Regarding Jack? I think two weeks on Sunday. Not the next game, but the game after. We deferred his rehab and gave him an extra week's rest. Medically, it was wise to do it."

Wenger was phlegmatic about the pelvic muscle injury that Theo Walcott picked up while away with England, adding: "Walcott is an accident that could have happened here."

Kieran Gibbs is also expected to miss out against Reading on Saturday with flu.