Arsene Wenger is looking forward to having his squad strengthened by the return of injured players as Arsenal fight battles on three fronts.

Wenger: Boosted by returning stars

Wednesday night's goalless draw at Bolton was a missed opportunity to close the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea but on the positive side it ended a run of three defeats and also saw Bacary Sagna make his first start in four months after a broken leg.

With Mikel Arteta also starting for the first time in a month and left-back Kieran Gibbs close to a return after groin surgery Wenger believes his squad will be stronger to tackle the challenges of the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

"Combining the league, FA Cup and Champions League will be difficult so it is important we don't have more injuries," said the Frenchman.

"We now have Sagna back, Gibbs is not far, Arteta is back so overall I hope we can cope with it."

Unfortunately for Wenger his hopes of having Jack Wilshere return suffered a set-back on Wednesday when it was revealed the midfielder had sustained a stress fracture to his right ankle, having been sidelined for all the season with a problem which required surgery.

The Gunners boss was unable to expand on the brief details the club had released on Wednesday but admitted not having the England international available was difficult.

"I don't know (the extent of the problem) really," he added. "We made a statement. I can talk and talk but I don't know any more than you.

"You want your best players available when you go to play in the Champions League and FA Cup in February and to get back into the top four so of course it is frustrating."