Lucas Perez could be in line for a return from injury in Arsenal’s EFL Cup tie with Southampton on Wednesday, Arsene Wenger has confirmed.

The Spanish striker suffered an ankle injury in last month’s victory over Reading, just his third start since a £17.1million move from Deportivo La Coruna in late August.

Wenger had feared that Lucas could face as many as eight weeks on the sidelines with a “stupid” injury he put down to a “deliberate kick” from Reading substitute Danzell Gravenberch.

However Lucas’ recovery has moved ahead of schedule and the 28-year-old returned to the training field on Friday, with Wenger eyeing up another EFL Cup fixture for his return to action.

“Lucas is for the first time in training today,” Wenger said. “He might be in contention for Wednesday [against Southampton], but one training session is not enough to be involved on Sunday.”

However Wenger’s assessment was less optimistic on his other two Spanish players, Hector Bellerin and Santi Cazorla.

Full-back Bellerin is expected to be out until just before Christmas with an ankle injury. Whilst Santi Cazorla is targeting an earlier return date towards the start of December he has suffered numerous setbacks on an Achilles injury that plagued him for much of last season.