He’s made 12 appearances - seven of which have been starts - for us so far this season, and Jack Wilshere feels he is benefitting from knowing his body better.

The England international scored his first goal in an Arsenal shirt since May 2015 against BATE Borisov on his way to a man-of-the-match performance.

So why are things going so well for Wilshere right now?

"As you get older things change naturally anyway,” he said. “I know my body a little bit better. There might be some days when I have had to miss a training session and the boss has been brilliant.

“I have trained most of the time, 90 per cent of the time. But on the odd occasion when I am feeling a bit tired and know my body is at risk of picking up an injury I speak with the boss and he lets me stay inside.

“As I've got older I've got a bit wiser and learnt you can't go out there every day and have to pick your time. Ultimately the most important thing is the game. You have to be fresh for the game and be ready for that and that is what I have been concentrating on more this year.”

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Wilshere says he benefitted from spending last season on loan at Bournemouth.

“The boss made it pretty clear I was not going to play as much as I wanted to at Arsenal,” he added. “It was difficult going out to a 'not top-four team' if you like. You have to fight for the ball and you learn more about yourself as a player, such as how good you are defensively off the ball.

“I think I improved there massively. I played 28/30 games and unfortunately, I got an impact injury which anyone could have picked up and I look back on my time there and I think I learned a lot, made some good friends there and I wouldn't change anything.”