Two weeks ago, Arsene Wenger said Mohamed Elneny would be out for three weeks, yet today he said he didn’t expect the midfielder to return from injury so soon after three weeks on the sidelines.

Elneny was injured in the FA Cup game against Sutton United on 20 February.

Initial reports appeared in the media in the week after the game said he would be out for three weeks. The following week, Wenger confirmed this three-week timeframe.

Giving his team news on Thursday morning ahead of West Brom, Wenger admitted that he wasn’t expecting Elneny to return so soon. He returned to training this week and is available for selection this weekend.

Wenger said, “No [I didn’t expect him to return so quickly], because at the start it looked like it was a very bad ankle injury. He has recovered well because he’s a very strong boy and very keen to come back as quickly as possible. It worked well for him.”

I know, ultimately, it’s not important, but why say three weeks if you are expecting him to be out longer? We see this time and time again from the club. Although in this instance Wenger has lucked out, how many others have been out for ‘three weeks’ only to return three months later?

It happens so often that fans even talk in terms or ‘real’ weeks and ‘Arsenal’ weeks.

What harm can it do to be honest with the fans about something like a player’s fitness?

In other team news, the S*n say that the Ox is out for the weekend but Arsene Wenger says he will have a test after feeling a ‘tight’ hamstring at the weekend. Kirean Gibbs is also a doubt.