Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits telling Danny Welbeck to cool it in training to stop striker from injuring himself again

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Arsene Wenger hopes Danny Welbeck is out of the woods of his injury hell – after having to step in to stop him from trying too much too soon.

Arsenal striker Welbeck suffered from consecutive serious knee injuries which kept him out for the best part of two years and he is only just returning.

But there was been no apprehension brought on by his extended absence. In fact, Wenger had to tell Welbeck to drop down a gear in his early training sessions at their London Colney base last month.

Danny Welbeck is eager to get back to his maximum sharpness as quickly as possible

The Arsenal striker is known for not holding back in training upon returning from injury

The former Manchester United forward is hugely popular at Arsenal and his manager is praying, at the age of 26, he can finally get an extended run of injury-free action.

'I touch wood, hope. He's not completely out of it,' Wenger said. 'It was bone inflammation and that takes a huge time to get completely rid of. You have to be very careful not to have a set-back.

'You have some players, they have big injuries and you observe them in the first three months and you think: 'My friend, you will struggle,' because they always have the handbrake on.

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is easing Welbeck back into the first team after the setback

Welbeck returns to give Arsenal another attacking option in the second half of the season

'And some players, they come back and behave like they have never been injured. He is one of them. In his first training session you say 'Come on, don't go in for too much contact straight away', but he is like that.

'He is a young promising striker, he has fantastic spirit and you do not see people with that. People sense this, that he has a great spirit. He's genuine, committed and humble. You do not find that too many times altogether.

'Maybe, as well, people feel sorry for a guy who basically couldn't play for two years. This links together — and for me he's rightly hugely popular.'

Welbeck replaced Alexis Sanchez in the second half of the 4-0 win at Swansea last weekend

The 26-year-old is a hugely popular figure in the Arsenal dressing room having been absent

In the longer term, Welbeck will be eyeing an England return once he is back firing at the Emirates.

And after 14 goals in 34 caps for his country, Wenger believes the national team might be wondering 'what if?' after disappointing at Euro 2016 in Welbeck's absence.

'He was the centre forward of England, let's not forget that, and then with England's failure at the European Championship — you cannot stop people from thinking 'If Welbeck was there he would have helped us to win against Iceland…',' Wenger said.