Coming off the bench with just over five minutes of Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Sunderland on Sunday, Jack Wilshere made his first appearance since pre-season.

The England midfielder picked up an injury in August and has only managed to feature three times for the Arsenal u21s since then. Those displays, after a long wait, have been enough to convince Arsène Wenger he’s ready for first team action again.

“It was a great feeling,” a relieved Wilshere said to the BBC after the game. “This is what I have worked all year for. It is massive for me.”

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Jack Wilshere replaced Mesut Özil late on Sunday to finally make his first Premier League appearance of the campaign.(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

After such a long time out and after putting so much hard work in to get fit again, it must feel fantastic to finally get back on the pitch again.

Unfortunately, Arsenal’s players couldn’t give fans a similarly fantastic feeling. Quite the opposite.

“When we watch the video back we will think we should have won,” the midfielder added. “We were the better team and played some great stuff leading up to the final third but I think we should be more clinical.”

We can agree to disagree on whether or not Arsenal played great stuff leading up to the final third. The Gunners had a few minor sights at goal on Sunday afternoon but nothing major as the build-up play looked laboured and unimaginative.

With just three games to go this season, at least we won’t have to suffer this football much longer.