Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck set to return to full training today, confirms boss Arsene Wenger
England striker back in first-team fold at long last after seven frustrating months out with knee injury
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DANNY WELBECK will return to full training today, boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed.
The Arsenal striker suffered a knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City on May 8, but is now fit to re-join the first team after completing a long rehabilitation period.
This is a massive boost for the Gunners as they set about trying to close the nine-point gap between themselves and Premier League leaders Chelsea.
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Welbeck needs to reach match-fitness and won’t be ready to play games over the busy Christmas period, but Wenger was pleased to welcome him back into the fold.
"He will return to training today which is very good news," said Wenger.
"Welbeck will need some time. Today is the first time he joins in with team training so I'm very cautious because you can have setbacks after being out for so long."
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Welbeck has always struggled with injuries since joining Arsenal from Manchester United in 2014, managing just 36 league appearances.
After recovering from another long-term setback he made 11 Premier League appearances at the back-end of last season, scoring four goals before another problem occurred.
Aaron Ramsey could face West Brom on Boxing Day but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Shodkran Mustafi miss out.
Wenger said: "The strengths of Aaron, he's a high level player, a complete box-to-box midfielder. But we have to be careful, he's had some setbacks.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and gossip ahead of the January window with SunSport’s daily LIVE blog.
Wenger on Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury: "It's a question of days rather than weeks."