Arsenal squad vs Chelsea revealed

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi will undergo late fitness tests ahead of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea.

Xhaka (groin) and Mustafi (knock) are close to recovering but both players only have an outside chance of playing at Stamford Bridge.

Sead Kolasinac (ankle), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Olivier Giroud (hamstring) and Nacho Monreal (ankle), however, all remain sidelined.

Wenger insisted that he expected a strong response from his players after the Forest exit - and was determined to try and win the Carabao Cup.

He said: “Yes, I would love to win it because we are now in the semi-final and if it’s an opportunity we will try to take it.

“There is still a long way to go because tonight you have Man City against Bristol City and tomorrow it is us against Chelsea so it is a bit similar to last year in the FA Cup.

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

“We take the criticism on board and respond to it in a positive way. That’s all you can do. We’re in the semi-final of the league cup and we have an opportunity to go through. We won the FA Cup three times in the last four years and you can expect that it will not happen every year.

“I believe that we have not produced a performance you would expect in the third round of the FA Cup. I must say, it’s the first time it’s happened in 21 years. Overall, I believe we have been very consistent even if I am very disappointed by some individual performances.

“I focus on football. What is important is what happens on the pitch. The judgement is the judgement and you have to live with that. We have produced some great performances recently and all you want to do is focus on what you can influence, not what you cannot influence.”

Provisional squad: Cech, Ospina, Mertesacker, Holding, Mustafi, Chambers, Debuchy, Bellerin, Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Coquelin, Wilshere, Xhaka, Elneny, Ozil, Iwobi, Sanchez, Welbeck, Walcott, Lacazette.