Arsene Wenger praises selfless Jack Wilshere

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has declared that Jack Wilshere has proved he is ready to "sacrifice himself" for the benefit of the team by playing out of position.

With Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski both out injured Wilshere has moved to an unfamiliar wide left-role in recent matches, including Wednesday's 2-1 win at Marseille in the Champions League.

Wenger believes that Wilshere will benefit from the unexpected switch, with the Gunners boss admitting that he still needs time to be at his best physically.

He told the club's official website: "Jack is always ready to sacrifice himself for the team and that is absolutely fantastic. It is not his best position, we all know that.

"But he has a lot of freedom to move inside and he plays a little bit in the Cazorla role. He does that well. I think he will benefit from that transitional period there and physically he will become much stronger. He needs that.

"Overall, he is very disciplined as well. He can do the physical job on the flanks. It's the hardest job today in the modern game and he does that very well. I'm very pleased with his performances."

The Gunners have won six successive matches in all competitions, helping lift them to second in the Premier League.