Ox so desperate to beat Final curse
CURSED Alex Oxladechamberlain is fighting to lift his FA Cup jinx tomorrow – with no guarantees that he will stay at Arsenal next season. England midfielder Oxlade-chamberlain, named in Three Lions coach Gareth Southgate’s squad for next month’s World Cup qualifier against Scotland, managed only a single walk-on part in the Gunners’ backto-back Cup triumphs in 2014 and 2015. And although he has raced back to fitness in just 16 days since he limped off at Southampton with a hamstring injury, he could miss the cut at Wembley again when manager Arsene Wenger, bidding for a record seventh FA Cup win, names his side to face Chelsea. The Ox, whose existing contract at the Emirates expires next year, refused to discuss the prospects of him signing a new deal this summer. But the chances of him leaving are likely to increase if Wenger (below, with Ox) leaves him on the bench and he misses out on a third Cup Final start in four seasons. Oxlade-chamberlain said: “It’s a bit of a trend, isn’t it? It’s obviously not ideal to pick up injuries close to the end of the season, but it’s what we deal with week in, week out. “You go to the bottom of the pile and you have to work your way back up. “When I got this injury, I tried to hit the ground running and attack it as quick as I could, and set out a plan which gave me the best opportunity to put myself in contention for the final. “I spoke to the manager about my return and he was happy with it. That’s all I can do – team selection is down to him. “For the 2014 final, I missed out completely and I was really gutted about that because I’d played a big role in helping us get there. “But once we’d come back from 2-0 down, all feelings of disappointment went out of the window. That ended the club’s trophy drought and I was as excited as if I had scored the winning goal myself. “And in the 2015 final, I came on for the last five minutes of a game that was already won, which was a nice moment for me after missing out completely the year before.” Wenger will have to make a late decision on German defender Shkodran Mustafi who suffered concussion against Sunderland. Mustafi is confident he will be fit but strict guidelines on concussion may mean the decision is taken out of his hands.