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Wenger: Wilshere looking really good, back in a month

Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners at Liverpool © PA Photos

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Arsene Wenger expects Jack Wilshere to be back in an Arsenal shirt at the start of October, and he hopes Abou Diaby will remain fit enough to play alongside him.

Arsenal's midfield was largely responsible for the three points they picked up at Anfield on Sunday, courtesy of a 2-0 win over Liverpool. Diaby was named man-of-the-match for his box-to-box performance, while Santi Cazorla created the first goal and scored the second.

With Mikel Arteta also prominent, Arsenal will be blessed with midfield options once Wilshere recovers from his lengthy layoff, a return Wenger believes is only a month away.

"He is looking very good in training," Wenger told the club's official website. "Close? It depends what you call close. I would still give him a month. But it looks very good. In a month he should be starting to play again."

Commenting on Diaby, Wenger said: "You can see it is massive for us because he is a tremendous football player. He has absolutely everything you want in midfield.

"He hasn't played for a year but he had a good pre-season where we had him 45 minutes every three days and now he looks in good shape. There is more to come from him but what he has shown today is very good.

"Let's hope he survives the break because the national team travel a lot, play two games in four days and let's hope he comes back in good shape."

One player to have barely featured in the opening stages of the season is Theo Walcott, who was on the bench at Anfield. Wenger, though, assured the England man that he will get the chance to cement a first-team place once more.

"Today we had Walcott, Gervinho, [Andre] Santos and [Aaron] Ramsey on the bench and we had players at home as well. They will play."

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