Mohamed Elneny was substituted before half-time in our EFL Cup quarter-final defeat against Southampton.
After the game, Arsène Wenger gave an update on his fitness, and also addressed the availability of Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla.
on Elneny…
He was sick before the game. He decided he felt well enough. I could see after five or 10 minutes that he was not right. He has no medical injury problem, but he has diarrhea or a stomach problem.
on whether he is worried the side came up short…
No, I think you take the players today – Gabriel played on Saturday, Jenkinson played recently. Gibbs played many games recently. They all played, so I think on the night we were not at our best. That exists even if it’s not an excuse. It’s more an explanation than an excuse because there are no excuses, but I can only say well done to Southampton. They were better than us tonight.
on Giroud and Cazorla…
Giroud is short, but has a chance to be available for Saturday. Cazorla I don’t know, honestly. It’s just inflammation. It can go in two days, two weeks - I don’t know. He has no setback, the inflammation is just still here. At the moment, it’s stable.
on whether the loss will have a knock-on effect…
No, I am not concerned about that. But you know, a defeat is a defeat - you want to win the game.
on if the fans expect too much…
They never expect too much, it’s down to us to give them what they want. It is a fact. We have to live with that.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
