Arsene Wenger has set Jack Wilshere a target of playing 10 games in a row to earn a new Arsenal deal.

Midfielder Wilshere's career as been blighted by injuries - with a damaged calf two seasons ago seeing him miss eight months of action.

The England ace spent last season on loan at Bournemouth, where he missed the end of the season with another layoff, before returning to north London in the summer.

Wilshere has made three appearances for the Gunners this season, including playing the full 90 minutes against BATE Borisov in the Europa League.

Jack Wilshere has made three appearances this season (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)
Wilshere is out of contract at the end of the season (
Image:
Getty Images)

The 25-year-old is out of contract at the end of this campaign, and Wenger has urged Wilshere to prove his fitness to bag an extension.

Wenger told beIN Sports: "Jack Wilshere struggled historically with repeated injuries and no one could question his talent, nobody would question his exceptional ability to beat people with the ball.

"But in this job you need to have health. The requests and demands of the competition, physically, are so high and you can only be at your best if you can play at least 10 games on the trot. That's what's at stake for Jack Wilshere.

Wenger has set Wilshere a playing target (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)

"He needs to keep his health and be capable of competing. If he can play from now until December at the top level, he will be back. If he has other set-backs then it will be more difficult.

"It's a vital season because he's nearing the end of his contract, it's a World Cup year and he has been an Arsenal player since he was a kid, so all that's at stake for him and for us as well because you'd love a player like him of that quality to come back.

"In fact he had a very good game in BATE Borisov, especially a brilliant first half where he was back to his best, so he's not far away now. Let's hope in the next two or three weeks he can play regularly in the first team."

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