LONDON -- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger plans to limit Danny Welbeck's playing time over the coming months despite the forward's spectacular return from a long-term knee injury.
Welbeck scored a brace in his first start of the season in Saturday's 5-0 win over Southampton in the FA Cup, but Wenger says he will be cautious with the striker going forward to avoid any setbacks. Welbeck needed knee surgery last May, having only returned that February from another nine-month layoff.
"He's very sharp, but he's still not out of it completely. We have still to be cautious with him," Wenger said on Monday at his news conference ahead of Tuesday's Premier League game against Watford. "Physically he's ready to play. But we still have to manage the times we use him and the times we rest him for a while I think, for the next months. After he will be hopefully completely fit."
That means Welbeck will likely be back on the bench against Watford, as Wenger tries to juggle the multitude of attacking options he has available at the moment. Theo Walcott scored a hat trick at Southampton in his return from a calf injury, while Olivier Giroud was rested for that match and Alexis Sanchez only came off the bench.
"Of course [Welbeck] has done enough to keep his place but at the moment we have to be cautious with him," Wenger said. "I'm not sure how we'll use him every three days. I think he's a bit short for that. But the quality of the performance was there."
Welbeck had only made three substitute appearances before the Southampton game, but his return adds to a collection of forwards that also includes Lucas Perez and Alex Iwobi. That attacking depth is part of the reason Arsenal have scored 81 goals in all competitions this season, just 10 short of their total from 2015-16.
"We have scored many goals since the start of the season and Danny was not there. To add him to the squad as well gives us huge offensive potential," Wenger said. "Now I have to use the strikers well, in the right moment and without destroying the balance of the team. I would add Lucas to that as well. He did very well on Saturday to create chances. Offensively, we have many players who can produce and score."
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also impressed against Southampton after being deployed in central midfield, rekindling a debate about whether he should play on the wing or in the middle of the park.
And Wenger said he envisions Oxlade-Chamberlain playing more centrally in the future, but that young players are usually a better fit on the wing.
"He is a good flank player and a good central player, but the future, personally I would say, is more central than on the flank for him," Wenger said. "But when you are young, you want to come in the team and the push is always a bit more on the flank.
"Why? Because centrally there is more experience demanded, more planning, more tactical planning and on the flanks you can be a bit more instinctive. But naturally, he is a guy I think who is comfortable to be involved always in the game. It looks, when I look back, in all the games he played central, in many of them he has done very well."
Tuesday's home game will also pit Arsenal against Watford's latest attacking addition, striker M'Baye Niang, who joined the Hornets on loan from AC Milan last week. Niang was on trial at Arsenal in 2012, and Wenger said he was weary of the forward's threat.
"I know him well because he played for Caen and we had him here. He's a very talented striker individually, and he can create chances," Wenger said. "He's very strong as well physically, and very quick. I think he will be a major asset for them. He's on loan from AC Milan and we have to keep him quiet because he's a guy who can do something special."