Latest injury tough to deal with – Wilshere

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere says his recent injury has been the toughest to take mentally.

The injury-prone England international required surgery on his leg in September and he is set to be sidelined until late 2015.

Wilshere, 23, said his latest setback had been difficult to deal with.

“I think this one was mentally the toughest to take,” he told Sky Sports.

“Last season I started the season well, got injured and missed most of the season, came back towards the end, got back in the England team, had a good game with England and then I only took two weeks off in the summer because I wanted to go back early and get fit, which I did.

“Pre-season I didn’t have any muscle injuries or anything like that, it was just a freak incident in training.

“It is tough but I’ve got good people around me, family and friends and they really help.”

Even without Wilshere, Arsenal have developed into title contenders – sitting level on points with Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Wilshere said Arsene Wenger’s men could be excused for thinking about the club’s first title success since 2004.

“I wouldn’t say it is too early [to start dreaming about the title] because that’s what we all want to do – win the league,” he said.

“We feel week in, week out we get stronger and stronger. That’s all we can do, we can take each game as it comes.

“We didn’t start the Champions League well either but we got a big result in the week [against Bayern Munich] for that as well, we’re still in that and things are going well at the moment.

“In past seasons we’ve struggled at the start of the season and then woken up in January when we’ve realised we need to get into the top four and finish in the Champions League.

“But this year I think we’ve continued with where we finished last season, we’ve got players in there that want to win now, fighting for each other, it’s a great team spirit and if we can continue this then who knows?

“We’ve got to take each game as it comes but we’re feeling good at the moment so everyone is confident.”