Wenger: Wilshere not a Euro gamble for England

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger does not believe it would be a risk for England to take Jack Wilshere to Euro 2016.

Wilshere has not played a competitive game this season after he suffered a fractured left tibia in pre-season training.

The 24-year-old midfielder has stepped up his recovery with Arsenal Under-21s over recent weeks and was on the scoresheet as he completed 90 minutes for the second time in five days in Monday’s 2-1 loss to West Brom.

Both club’s full sides will meet in the Premier League on Thursday and, although Wilshere will be unavailable for that match, Wenger expects him to be ready to take on relegation-threatened Sunderland on Sunday.

And providing Wilshere suffers no further setbacks, Wenger feels the player will be up to full fitness if England boss Roy Hodgson decides to take him to France in June.

“He has coped well with his first obstacle, which is getting games,” Wenger said.

“The positive is that he’s had no setbacks and in every game he was sharp.

“It means he has a good fitness basis and now he is available for selection, I don’t think [for West Brom he is available] but the next game.

“Yes [Wilshere will be fit for the Euros] because he has played three [under-21] games already. The European Championship starts on June 10 and until then it is nearly two months.

“If you look at his fitness now, in two months he should be perfectly fit. If he has no setbacks it would not be a gamble.”

Wilshere’s fellow midfielder Santi Cazorla is also back in full training with Arsenal having been ruled out by a knee problem since November.