London: Midfielder Jack Wilshere will miss Arsenal's Champions League match with Anderlecht on Tuesday because he has picked up a sickness bug and is not well enough to play, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said on Monday.
Wilshere was absent for only the second time this season when Arsenal beat Burnley 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday and Wenger confirmed at his pre-match news conference, that the 22-year-old England international would not play on Tuesday.
"He has been sick and will not be available," he said.
"The rest of the squad will be the same as the Burnley game."
Despite Wilshere's absence, Wenger said he was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel following a raft of injuries this season.
"We've had a lot of long-term injuries, with (Olivier) Giroud, with Theo (Walcott), with (Mathieu) Debuchy, (Mesut) Ozil and (David) Ospina, but they are all slowly getting better, we are near the end of the tunnel," he said.
Walcott returned after 10 months out with a cruciate ligament injury when he came on for the last 10 minutes against Burnley. It was his first appearance since damaging his knee in the FA Cup win over arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur on January 4.
He is now likely to be in the squad for Tuesday's match but Wenger said he had not yet decided whether he would play or not.
After the Burnley game he said he was delighted he was available again.
"It's good to have Theo back. After nine or 10 months out you have ups and down, so I will have to manage that well as I do not want to make a big mistake with him."
Wenger also had a message for England manager Roy Hodgson ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia on November 15 and their friendly against Scotland in Glasgow three days later.
"If Theo wants to go, I'm happy for him to go and practise and maybe get a few minutes," Wenger said. "Mentally, it will help him.
"Is he completely ready? I think it is a bit early but to be in the squad will be good for him."
Arsenal will qualify for the last 16 if they beat Anderlecht and Galatasaray fail to beat Borussia Dortmund on the same night. Borussia top Group D with nine points from three games with Arsenal on six and Anderlecht and Galatasaray on one.
Wenger said he would be pleased to qualify with two matches remaining, following their late 2-1 win over Anderlecht in Brussels two weeks ago with both goals coming in the last three minutes.
"They gave us a tough game and we had a bit of a miraculous win because we needed to go until the last minute but that showed our quality in the game," Wenger said.
"We were warned, we learnt a lot from the first game and now of course at the Emirates we want to win again."
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