Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez could have been “killed” when he landed in a Carrow Road camera pit against Norwich last weekend.
Sanchez landed heavily in the cameraman’s area on the touchline after tangling with Canaries defender Ryan Bennett during an incident in the first half and was later forced off with a hamstring injury.
With Sanchez now likely to be sidelined for a number of weeks, Wenger defended his decision to play the 26-year-old in the 1-1 draw last Sunday.
Sanchez was struggling with his hamstring after the Champions League victory over Dinamo Zagreb, but Wenger said all of the club’s medical tests showed he was in peak fitness to start the game.
While the Frenchman said he is happy to take the blame for the number of injuries being accrued by his squad, he also pointed to Sanchez being pushed into the camera area as a potential reason for this latest blow and feels it could have been worse for the former Barcelona man.
“First of all it’s dangerous to have a camera there,” Wenger said. “He could have killed him.
“Secondly, he [Bennett] didn’t need to push him like he did. I think the camera position was absolutely dangerous.
“When he was pushed into the boards on the side of the field that did not shock anybody. That injury can come from that as well. I’m not expert enough to know but if you want to blame me I’m okay with it.”
Bennett tweeted after the match to give his side of the incident, writing: “Genuinely was trying to stop not push Sanchez just to clear that up.”
With a number of players still absent, the timely return of Theo Walcott will boost Wenger’s options for Saturday’s visit of Sunderland.
The fixtures over the festive period come thick and fast but Wenger is adamant he will not rush back any of his missing players to fill holes in his side.
“I will not take that gamble,” he added. “A player who comes back goes always through a period where the reconstruction of the muscle takes longer than the time where they don’t play.
“There is always a risk when a player has been out for five weeks that in the first two or three weeks he has a recurrence of the injury because nobody can tell you the risk doesn’t exist.”
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