Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna Play 90 Minutes In Friendly

Jack Wilshere continued his return from injury, completing 90 minutes today against a John Terry featuring-Chelsea in a behind-closed door friendly that Arsenal lost 2-0. Bacary Sagna also added another 90 minutes to his comeback, as did Emmanuel Frimpong. First teamers Francis Coquelin, Andrei Arshavin, Andre Santos and Maroune Chamakh played, as did Carl Jenkinson.

The main event, though, was Wilshere. He's now played about 230 minutes in three games, as he closes in a first-team return. The Under-21s play against Everton on Monday night, and one would expect Wilshere to play 90 minutes then. Based on how he recovers, he could be involved in Arsenal's squad as early as the following weekend's home match against Queens Park Rangers, but a safer bet would be having Wilshere included in Arsenal's Capital One Cup tie against Reading on October 30th.

Sagna too, could be looking at a return soon; like Wilshere, I'd expect him to play at least one more game with the Under 21s, but with Sagna having been out for a shorter time than Wilshere, it'd be no surprise to see him involved sooner.

Wilshere may be back, but he won't be back to his best yet. It must be remembered that he's missed 14 months, and a year of development; he'll be rusty, but will also show flashes of brilliance, like Aaron Ramsey did last season. Hopefully Arsenal fans won't be as moronic towards Wilshere as they were towards Ramsey last season.