Wilshere closing on return

Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna and Emmanuel Frimpong stepped up their return to action when playing for the Under-21s against Reading.

Wilshere played for 74 minutes as Arsenal defeated Reading 2-0 and it was another significant step for the midfielder as he bids to return to the Gunners first-team. The midfielder has been sidelined since June 2011 with ankle and knee problems but reserve team coach Terry Burton says he is well on the road to recovery and showed some encouraging signs against the Royals. "He rode challenges better which is a big part of his game," Burton told Sky Sports News. "He likes to keep the ball close to defenders to put them out of the game and I think he did that better tonight. "I think his final pass was good. For me it was a big improvement on his previous performance. "It's only normal it does come in those stages, it doesn't happen overnight. He's worked very hard with the fitness people, he's been back in training in our group for a couple of sessions as well and he's been first class in those." Meanwhile, Frimpong is nearing full fitness after suffering a serious knee injury while on loan at Wolves, while Sagna is recovering from a broken leg.