Jack Wilshere made his return for the Arsenal first team on Monday night after almost six months out.

Crippled by an unpunished Paddy McNair tackle in November, the midfielder looked sprightly when he was introduced as a second-half substitute for Aaron Ramsey who was struggling to shake off Tom Huddlestone’s oafish tackle.

Clearly delighted with his return, Wilshere told Arsenal.com “That’s the most important thing for me.

“It’s frustrating when you’re out but when you’re back on the pitch it makes up for all the time you spent injured.

“It’s much better for me to come into a team who are winning and playing as well as that. It’s easy because you can fit in when the boss is ready to include you.

“I’m just happy to get back on the pitch and get some minutes under my belt. I feel fitter for it, I’ll train next week and hopefully get some minutes next week as well.”

Quite where Wilshere fits into this Arsenal side is anyone’s guess. They’ve shown themselves capable of operating without him and Alexis, Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsey have all begun to develop an understanding that is allowing them to carve teams open as evidenced by their display at the KC which brought them level with City, third only because of City’s marginally better goal difference.

“[Finishing second] would set a marker for next season and would be a progression from last year,” Wilshere added. “The last few seasons we’ve finished fourth so to finish two places ahead of that would be a massive progression for us and hopefully will give us confidence going into next season.”

“We knew [Hull] were going to come out because they’re fighting for their lives, but we expected that,” he continued.

“We soaked up the pressure well in the first half and our quality shone through. We’ve got players going forward who are some of the best in the world and they showed that.”