Arsene Wenger voices concerns over depleted squad

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that his side will be unable to maintain their current form unless their injury situation improves.

The Gunners are without a host of first-team regulars early in the campaign, with Santi Cazorla joining Mikel Arteta, Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the sidelines.

Wenger has been forced to include teenagers Isaac Hayden and Chuba Akpom in his 18-man squad for tonight's Champions League opener against Marseille, with the Frenchman desperate for a change of luck on the injury front.

He told Football365: "Of course I am concerned because from now they play for two months every three or four days.

"It's important we get some players back because you cannot play for the next two months with the squad we have at the moment."

Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil did provide Wenger with a welcome boost yesterday, as both men were passed fit to feature against Marseille at the Velodrome this evening.