Arsene Wenger says he will do “absolutely everything” to help Jack Wilshere recover in time to finish the domestic season and go to the World Cup.
The 22-year-old sustained a hairline fracture to the navicular bone in his left foot while on international duty with England on Wednesday night.
Wenger says it will take Wilshere six weeks to recover, plus an extra two to regain full match fitness, but is confident he will be back for the climax to the campaign.
"It's certainly very difficult when you are his age as you want to get up in the morning, jump out of bed and go on the football pitch and play"
Arsene Wenger
“It is a blow for him and for us,” the manager said. “From now on you want to get him to recover as quickly as possible, we want to help him come back as quickly as possible and prepare for the rest of the season.
“[He] can only be very down in a situation like this - especially in the first days that he's in the boot. He's gone away a few days to get away from travelling and the disappointment and to think about something else.
“It's certainly very difficult when you are his age as you want to get up in the morning, jump out of bed and go on the football pitch and play. When you’re not able to do that without any restriction, it's difficult mentally. Certainly it has a weight on his mind and I hope that's his last accident for a long, long time.”
Wenger insists Wilshere still has a good chance of making Brazil 2014.
“Any player who has an opportunity to go to the World Cup, you do not want to talk him out of that, it is a lost job,” he said.
“You want to encourage him to go and show [his talents] because you know the meaning it has to go to a World Cup for a player is immense. I will do absolutely everything so that he can get there.”
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