Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he planned to substitute Danny Welbeck at half-time in Arsenal’s 1-0 Europa League loss at Cologne.
The 26-year-old’s exit after only 45 minutes at the RheinEnergieStadion, with Alex Iwobi, led to fears that Welbeck had suffered another injury following a largely encouraging first outing in just his second game in two months.
Welbeck had only just returned from a hamstring injury and had already suffered groin problems during this season, meaning Wenger opted to take it easy with a player who has suffered a string of other fitness issues over the last three years.
“It was the plan for Danny Welbeck to only play 45 minutes,” Wenger said. “Medically, the risk was too great to play him for longer than that.
“He was ready to stay on and frustrated to come off, but he’s in good shape.”
Welbeck is likely to be among the substitutes when Arsenal travel to Burnley on Sunday, where Wenger is expected to revert to his Premier League attack of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette.
