Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck has been ruled out of Saturday's FA Cup final, but Arsene Wenger says he is Arsenal's only absentee. This means that both Mathieu Debuchy and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are available for the Wembley showpiece.
As preparations for the final went on, Welbeck looked like he may be fit enough for the game but Wenger said during his press conference today that "his bone bruising was not healed" and that he was out of the final. This was despite Wenger himself being confident that Welbeck would be fit enough for the final. As well as Saturday's FA Cup final, Welbeck will also miss England's games in early June against Slovenia and Ireland.
Danny Welbeck scored one goal in Arsenal's FA Cup run, but it was a very important goal. His winning goal at Old Trafford in the sixth round put Arsenal through to the semi-finals and saw Arsenal win at Old Trafford for the first time in nearly 10 years. The ex-Manchester United man also started the semi-final against Reading and if fit looked like he would start the final as well.
In other team news, everyone else is fit, including Debuchy and Oxlade-Chamberlain. Wenger has said that both players "are short on competition" but both are in contention for a place in the squad. Oxlade-Chamberlain missed last year's final through injury, something that was a blow for the 2014 semi-final Man of the Match, so being able to maybe play in this FA Cup final is big news for him. Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta is also back in full training, so he may also have the opportunity to play in this cup final.
Apart from this team news, Arsene Wenger has given no more away about his cup final team selection. There are some big decisions that must make before the final, including who will play in goal for Arsenal, but Wenger has given no clues to any of his starting XI for Saturday.
