Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has come to the defence of Jack Wilshere after an incident at a London nightclub last weekend.

The 24-year-old, who has been sidelined all season with a leg injury, was pictured talking to police in the early hours of Sunday morning following an alleged argument between two groups of men.

"I spoke to him," Wenger told reporters on Thursday. "It looks to be taken out of proportion a little bit. Of course these are matters that we like to keep internal.

"This is a completely private matter. For me it's very difficult to speak about that because I don't know [fully] what happened. Also he can be provoked. I'm a bit cautious.

"There was no training session the next day, he had an off day, so you can accept sometimes that players go out when they are free the next day over the weekend. Overall what is positive is that he works very very hard, the [outlook] is good."

Wenger also revealed that Wilshere would turn out for the Arsenal Under-21s on Friday night as he closes in on a return to first-team action.