Arsenal gear up for crucial London derby against Crystal Palace as Danny Welbeck returns to training after nine months out with serious knee injury
- Arsenal face Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday
- Arsene Wenger's men trained at chilly London Colney on Wednesday morning
- Gunners could move second in the table if results go their way this weekend
- Danny Welbeck was pictured in training for the first time since returning
- No sign of Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez ahead of clash with struggling Palace
Arsenal's stars braved the cold on Wednesday morning as they continued their preparations for Sunday's clash with Crystal Palace.
Arsene Wenger put his players through their paces at a chilly London Colney ahead of the London derby, which sees the Eagles - and new boss Sam Allardyce - visit the Emirates on New Year's Day.
There was no sign of Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Ozil, both of whom are yet to sign a new contract, but Wenger was boosted by the return of Danny Welbeck.
(Left-right) Nacho Monreal, Aaron Ramsey, Lucas Perez, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Emiliano Martinez and Ben Sheaf pose during training on Wednesday
Danny Welbeck was pictured in first-team training for the first time after a serious knee injury
Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey plays a pass as Arsenal prepare to face Crystal Palace
The former Manchester United forward was pictured training for the first time since rejoining the group last Friday following nine months out with a serious knee injury.
There were initial fears that Welbeck would miss up to a year, but he has recovered well and looked in good spirits as he took a full part in Wednesday's session.
The 26-year-old, who will not be rushed back for the visit of Palace, was seen tussling with Jeff Reine-Adelaide and holding off youngster Ben Sheaf.
Also pictured in training was Aaron Ramsey, who made his return from a troublesome hamstring injury as a substitute in the Boxing Day win over West Brom.
Wenger was seen chatting with Mohamed Elneny, while Nacho Monreal, Lucas Perez and Carl Jenkinson were among the other familiar faces on show.
Welbeck tussles with Jeff Reine-Adelaide during Wednesday's session at London Colney
The former Manchester United forward takes a shot after holding off Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Youngster Ben Sheaf puts Welbeck under pressure as he gears up for a return to the first team
A host of youngsters were also involved in the session, with Ben Sheaf, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Jeff Reine-Adelaide all mixing with established first-team stars.
Meanwhile, Petr Cech is targeting a strong end to the season as Arsenal attempt to overhaul Chelsea at the top of the table.
The veteran goalkeeper, who won four Premier League titles during his time at Stamford Bridge, believes his side need to earn at least 50 points in 2017.
'Overall you need to be consistent to get to 87 or 88 points and it doesn't really matter how you get to that,' he said. 'If you have back-to-back losses then you have to go and make up for it in different games. Then you can catch up.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger speaks with midfielder Mohamed Elneny before training
Defender Monreal controls the ball under pressure from the enthusiastic Reine-Adelaide
Summer signing Lucas Perez goes down under a challenge from Elneny during the session
'It's a long-term competition so if you have a period where you've not been particularly great, you can still make up for it.
'There are still enough games to make up for our blip and I also think it's impossible for our opponents to not drop points.
'There's still a big opportunity for us to close the gap now. Between now and the end of January, the table might look completely different.'
Most watched Sport videos
- Guardiola speaks following Manchester City's 1-0 defeat at Anfield
- Amanda Nunes sprays champagne after win over Rousey
- PHENOMENAL! Mourinho happy with Man Utd performance against Boro
- Klopp praises Liverpool's defensive work against Manchester City
- On camera. Lifeboat helps rescue man from burning boat
- Wenger says 'No-one will forget Giroud's goal'
- Two men mock Conor McGregor in Dublin - then he drives by
- Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes weigh-in for big UFC 207 fight
- Epic water bottle flip from a curly haired little girl
- Michael Bisping agrees Tyron Woodley UFC fight at 180lbs
- David Luiz, Nathaniel Chalobah and Ola Aina show off dance moves
- Chelsea's Chalobah takes a break in Paris with his girlfriend
- Ronda Rousey's coach heard shouting from outside the octagon...
- Antoine Griezmann can be Zlatan Ibrahimovic's long-term...
- Pep Guardiola blows his top as the Manchester City manager...
- Toni Kroos causes a stir after cryptic New Year message...
- Ronda Rousey stunned on return at UFC 207 as she's beaten by...
- Olivier Giroud and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both scored scorpion...
- UFC 207, Ronda Rousey v Amanda Nunes MMA RESULT: Rousey...
- Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Nico Rosberg, Maria...
- Sergio Aguero is a selfish striker, Granit Xhaka has more...
- Never forget how lucky we are to live in the Lionel Messi...
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists he has made his critics eat their...
- Arsenal 2-0 Crystal Palace: Outrageous scorpion kick from...