After Sunday’s 1-1 draw at West Brom, Jack Wilshere addressed the pictures that emerged last week that appeared to show him smoking.

Speaking to Arsenal Player, the England midfielder – who scored the Gunners’ equaliser against a resilient Baggies side – said:

“I made a mistake. Players make mistakes, I’m not a smoker. I spoke with the boss, he asked me what happened and I explained to him and we sorted it out. He put me in the team today and hopefully I repaid him.”

Speaking last week manager Arsène Wenger had said that he “completely disagreed” with Wilshere’s behaviour after the 21-year-old was photographed with a cigarette outside a nightclub a few hours after the Champions League victory over Napoli.

After yesterday’s match, however, Wenger sounded more conciliatory:

“He [Wilshere] is an honest guy and when he is wrong he knows it. I think today the players don’t get away with anything. We got away with it a bit more [in my playing days] but they know that’s the rules of the modern game. They have to deal with it and I think he learns very quickly.”

England manager Roy Hodgson confirmed that he considered this a club matter and would not raise the issue with Wilshere unless Arsène Wenger asked him to do so.  Hodgson said:

“I believe in [Wilshere], I think he’s a very good player, and I’m hoping that he’ll turn up fully fit to play and then it’ll be up to me to decide whether I want to put him in the starting line-up.”

Team’s character and strength in depth

In a wide-ranging interview Wilshere spoke about the result and the squad’s development over the past year or so:

“It was a good point and it’s a tough place to come... I think at the end of the season we’ll look back at it and think it was a good point.

“People have said we’ve lacked [character] in the past few years but we gained [that] last season... and we’ve continued that this season. We’ve added a few more top-quality players and we are starting to look good now...

“We added a few players last year and they’ve settled in really well. Olivier Giroud has had a fantastic season so far and we’ve still got Santi [Cazorla] to come back and Mesut [Ozil] seems to have fitted in straight away so we’re looking strong at the minute. We have to keep everyone fit and then we will have a really good squad to choose from.”

Asked about England’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Montenegro and Poland, Wilshere commented:

“They are two big games. We expect to win our home games at Wembley but... they are not going to be easy. International football is tough... I think we need three or four points from two games... We’ve got a good squad so hopefully we can all get together and make it happen. There is no better feeling for an Englishman than to play for his country. It’s a proud moment every time I pull on that shirt and if I’m selected I’ll do my best.”

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