Jack Wilshere is ready to make his comeback for Arsenal before the end of the season. The England midfielder has not figured since the latest in a lengthy list of injuries struck last November. Having also been injured in the buildup to last season’s FA Cup final, in which he was a substitute, Wilshere is desperate to return to Arsenal’s lineup as quickly as possible. “I have 25 that are desperate,” said Arsène Wenger.

“At the moment there are 30 days to go. What is my worry is Hull; I don’t care about the FA Cup at the moment. I am careful with Jack but he will play before the end of the season, of course. It is difficult to get in this team, I don’t deny that. If you consider any individual case you can say you are sorry that he doesn’t play.”

Wilshere is ahead of schedule in terms of his fitness but Wenger said that it can take longer for a player to regain the high-tempo rhythm and intensity required in the Premier League. “What people underestimate a little bit is that to get back to be capable to play is one thing. To be back and be capable to be sharp and efficient takes a bit longer,” he says.

“In the Premier League it is a fraction of a second that makes you efficient or not. Even the players, from the moment they train again fully and the moment they are really back to their level, they are impatient. At the moment, every week he is stronger, he is getting back to the level now. This week was the first week he is sharp again.

“You live in a job where you need to trust your body. Jack is one of them who plays with freedom as soon as he’s back. So I don’t think on that front it will be a problem. He needs now one or two years without problems to really get the full confidence and belief back and I don’t see why it shouldn’t happen.”

Wenger dismissed any suggestion of Wilshere leaving, with any interest from Manchester City likely to be given short shrift. “He is an Arsenal player. I believe the success of the club in the future years will depend on how well the young players educated here will do. He is part of that.” Wenger is also more than happy for Wilshere to feature for England in the summer.