Arsenal injury news: Santi Cazorla making little progress in recovery as Mohamed Elneny suffers through illness in Southampton loss

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James Benge1 December 2016

Santi Cazorla’s absence from the Arsenal side shows no signs of ending soon as Arsene Wenger lost another midfielder in his side’s 2-0 EFL Cup defeat to Southampton.

Spanish playmaker Cazorla has not featured since October 19 when he was kicked on his Achilles in a 6-0 win over Ludogorets, with Wenger immediately substituting off one of his most important players.

Cazorla has struggled to make a swift recovery from an injury that has plagued him for much of 2016 – it ruled him out until the final game of last season – and his return date has been far from clear. It now seems that Wenger’s hopes that the 31-year-old will be back in time for a hectic festive schedule are receding after the Arsenal manager confirmed no progress had been made in the Spaniard’s recovery.

“Cazorla I don’t know, honestly,” Wenger admitted. “I cannot give you any delay. It’s just inflammation, that can go in two days or two weeks. I don’t know.

In Pictures | Arsenal vs Southampton | 30/11/2016

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“He has no setback but the inflammation is still there.”

Asked by Standard Sport whether the inflammation was dying down Wenger confirmed it was “stable”.

Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat came at the cost of another midfielder, with Mohamed Elneny withdrawn before the interval after struggling throughout with what Wenger revealed was an illness he had been aware of before the match.

“He was sick before the game,” the Arsenal manager said. “He decided he felt well enough but I could see after 5-10 minutes that he was not right.

“He has no medical injury problem but he has diarrhoea or a stomach problem.”

More optimistic news came on Olivier Giroud’s recovery from a groin injury and the French “has a chance” for Saturday’s trip to West Ham whilst Danny Welbeck has returned to the London Colney pitch and should be back in full training next month.

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