Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger praised Bendtner as he stated that he has never given up on the Danish striker who managed to find the back of the net during the opening match of the year for Arsenal when they faced off against Cardiff City and had to wait until the 88th for the 1st goal to arrive.
Bendtner came on to the match as a substitute player and made a huge difference for the few minutes that he was on the pitch as he scored the opening goal with a close range shot that got its way into the back of the net, but the goal came at a cost for Bendtner as he is now injured.
It is expected that he will be fit and ready for action for Arsenal’s match against Fulham on January 18.
‘’Nicklas is a player who has gone through some difficult periods, so I just want to give him great credit,’ said Wenger, who was already without lead striker Olivier Giroud because of his own ankle problem. I told him already today that he is back to the level I want him to be at, and if he continues to develop like that he will come back into the team. Unfortunately he got injured today’’
‘’He was a bit unlucky; he said he landed on the foot of a Cardiff player and sprained his ankle. It looks like it is not a question of days, but weeks. I am very sad for us, but for him as well’’.
It was initially expected that Bendtner was going to be out of action for around 1 months but after the medical staff of Arsenal revealed the scan results, the injury is not as bad as believed. Which is great news for Arsenal considering that they have already lost Theo Walcott for the remainder of the season and Giroud seems to be in need of some breathing space, Bendtner will be back to play sooner than expected.