Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he has left Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey out of his squad entirely for the Europa League meeting with FC Koln.
The Frenchman is expected to prioritise next weekend's high-profile Premier League showdown against Chelsea, as the Gunners prepare to compete in Europe's secondary competition for the first time in 17 years.
Several first-team regulars missed training on Wednesday morning, including Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Alexandre Lacazette, Danny Welbeck and Granit Xhaka, but on the eve of the game Wenger would only confirm that Ozil and Ramsey will definitely miss out.
"Overall the injury situation is not too bad," he told reporters. "On the injury front we have no big problems; a few players have some response to the fact they played two international games like Ozil and Ramsey, who are rested completely."
Wenger also said that he expects midfielder Francis Coquelin to miss around three weeks with the injury sustained against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Daniel Lewis
