Ramsey's mental scars from leg break only healing now, says Wilshere

The Welshman had struggled since a career-threatening injury in 2010 but his recent goalscoring run has his team-mate pondering the lasting personal effects on the player.

Jack Wilshere has backed Aaron Ramsey to keep improving after a stunning start to the season with Arsenal, adding that the Welshman has only just recovering from his double leg break in 2010.

The 22-year-old has notched eight goals in his last eight games, which is double his career record for an entire season, after moving into a more prominent role this term.

 

And Wilshere, who has also struggled with long-term fitness concerns during the early stages of his development, believes Ramsey's form proves the mental scars of a career-threatening injury last longer than the physical rehabilitation.

"Aaron has got his confidence back which is great to see," Wilshere told reporters. "And it does take time for that to happen after a bad injury. I went through, but his was very different to mine.

"I had a stress response so there wasn’t that moment where I was kicked and thought 'Oh God'.

"I didn't have that memory but he will have been able to remember that horror tackle and I’m sure it will have stayed in a mind for a while so to get over that mentally is tough.

"For the first couple of months, or even a year, if you’re going into a 50-50 tackle it will be in the back of your mind.

"But he’s over that now and he’s a key player for us and he showed that again because his fitness levels are just not normal."

Ramsey scored Arsenal's second goal as they triumphed over 2-1 over Swansea City to open up a two-point gap at the top of the Premier League standings, their sixth victory on the bounce, and Wilshere hailed his team-mate's dedication to improve.

He continued: "He took his goal well but he’s naturally so fit he can score at any time in the game – and you can see that with that way he’s pushing on in the 94th minute. Not many players can do that and hopefully he can keep his run going.

"If he carries on playing the way he is and working hard, he can improve further. He’s got a great appetite for the game and he wants to improve." He’s training all the time, not missing a session, he’s young and he’s showing his best form."