With the FA Cup final quickly approaching, both Arsenal and Aston Villa will be doing all they can to have as many fit players as possible in their preparations prior to the huge game.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, England international striker Danny Welbeck is set to miss out with a knee injury. However, there is promising news as fellow England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made a late substitute appearance in the 4-1 victory against West Bromwich Albion last weekend.
“Welbeck will be short because he has not practised yet," Wenger responded when questioned on the striker's fitness. The Arsenal manager also commented on Mikel Arteta's fitness saying, “Arteta is a possibility, because he is back in full training." On the other hand, the fitness of Mathieu Debuchy is still a major question. The Frenchman is hoping to be involved following a hamstring injury which has kept him out for the majority of 2015.
One man who has recently returned from injury - ever so impressively - is Theo Walcott. The winger has struggled with injuries throughout his career, but is hoping that his hat-trick in last weekend's triumph over West Brom was enough to earn him a spot in the starting XI at Wembley Stadium come Saturday.
“I just want to play football and getting a hat-trick on the last day of the season after having limited opportunities, it was just nice to go out there to show what I can do,” Walcott said. “Hopefully the fans were very happy with that.
“There is a good sense of belief in this team, we can take it into the weekend and hopefully get another trophy. When it is free-flowing football, we are impossible to play against.”
Meanwhile, Villa have injury problems of their own ahead of this weekend. Centre-back Jores Okore did not train all of last week and didn't feature in the 1-0 home loss to relegated Burnley. He is a major doubt for this weekend, but he's certainly not short of praise from his manager Tim Sherwood, "In his mind he thinks his job is done because he is doing it for the team. That's the way he feels.
"I want him fit. Then I can make a choice. He really has gritted his teeth and got us over the line in the Premier League because he thought that was the priority. He is not thinking about himself.
"Last week he didn't train the whole week. He is a warrior who just wants to play for the club." he continued. "His performances, particularly with this injury considered, have been excellent. If I want anyone to be in the trenches with me it would be him."
Following the loss to Burnley, Sherwood is somewhat expectedly putting full focus on this weekend's game, "Now we will dust ourselves down. The FA Cup final is a one-off game. Anyone can win it."
With this being possibly Villa's biggest game in years, there's a lot of pressure on Sherwood to complete the miracle and guide his team to lifting the trophy. He is fully aware of the pressure he and his squad are under. "There's one game left, the biggest game of all our lives - and the biggest game for a lot of the fans out there - we need to do ourselves proud," he said.
"No-one gave us a chance to stay in the Premier League and no-one gives us a chance of winning the FA Cup. But we need to believe that we have a chance."