Jack Wilshere is ready to take his first step back into competitive football, 14 months after suffering a stress fracture which developed lengthy complications. The 20-year-old is set to play for Arsenal's Under-21s on Monday, at West Bromwich Albion, together with another young midfielder who has suffered long term injury, Emmanuel Frimpong.

"It is massive for them to come back, and for us as well," says Arsène Wenger. "Jack will play his first game, maybe an hour, something like that. It's another important step. When you are at that age and are out for such a long time, that is absolutely massive to take."

Despite the optimism – and Wilshere has impressed with his strength in training during the week – Wenger is keen to take the youngster's re-integration into full contention cautiously. There is no date identified for a first-team comeback and no programme for ramping up his readiness. His reaction to the test at West Bromwich will be analysed and they will go from there.

But the Arsenal manager is keen to make the point that Wilshere should not be considered for England's World Cup qualifiers in October. "I think that will be too early for him. He has not played for 14 months," Wenger said, before changing tack as he took into account that England will be playing San Marino at Wembley, joking: "I think he can play in that game."

Bacary Sagna is also back in full training, having recovered from a broken leg, and with Tomas Rosicky and Wojciech Szczesny a couple of weeks away from rejoining the group, Wenger finds himself in the unusual position of being close to a fully-fit squad.

The idea that he has selection problems made him laugh. "I have selection solutions," he said. "It is not a problem to have good players. At the end of the season everybody will have played."

Thomas Vermaelen, who missed the 1-1 draw at Manchester City last weekend with flu, is also in contention to offer Wenger another selection solution, as he must choose two from three men in form in the shape of Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker.