Jack looks the part for Southgate

IT IS World Cup year, so the auditions start here and Jack Wilshere will no doubt be thankful just to be back playing in the Premier League. But he has now played six games in less than a month, meaning the chatter about an England recall will intensify.

There has been much made of Wilshere’s comeback and gradual return to form. The Arsenal midfielder was impressive during the win at Crystal Palace and again despite Arsene Wenger’s team conceding a winning position to draw at West Bromwich.

But if he is to return to the standing in our game that saw him so feted before injuries became less of an occupational hazard and more of a curse, then he will need to write his name across games like this once again.

His goal last night will not do him any harm. It was very well taken.

His attempts to deceive referee Anthony Taylor (below) with a dive after already being booked was rather less clever. At 26, he probably should know better.

In the wider context, one imagines England manager Gareth Southgate will not seriously consider Wilshere for his World Cup squad until he proves his fitness over the long term.

At the moment it is hard to look whenever he goes to ground.

Here at the Emirates, Wilshere looked robust enough. He was booked for a late tackle on Cesc Fabregas and then withstood a return dose from his opponent moments before the interval. So far so good.

In terms of his football, it was hard to make a consistent judgment in a helter-skelter game. But Wilshere still looks the part, scurrying across the ground in that familiar, bow-legged way of his.

From that perspective, he has always seemed like a throwback. He does in terms of his unstinting effort, too. Wilshere could never be accused of a lack of interest in a game or a confrontation, and the way he ghosted into the penalty area for his goal was a reminder of his excellent sense of timing. Too often here he was not helped by the chaos that so often seems to swirl around him in the centre of the Arsenal midfield. Wenger’s team remain potent and capable on their day, but there is rarely the discernible rhythm or pattern to their play that it is easy to detect in top teams. In this sense, Wilshere must show an ability to take hold of that area, and with it the game. That is the role he seemed destined for as a younger player and it is what he must aspire to now. There was a time when he could have developed as a holding player but that looks beyond him now. Previous England managers reached the conclusion that he has never been able to tackle quite well enough to play there. There was, it must be said, evidence of that last night. Equally, there were some signs of the vision and creativity that mark out special players from the ordinary ones. He is at his most dangerous on the turn, forcing defenders to make difficult decisions, and Chelsea’s backline did not look comfortable against him when he broke from deeper positions. Wilshere can still pass, too. One lovely long ball in the second half found Alexandre Lacazette and almost led to a goal. A minute later, Wilshere scored himself. Ultimately, it was not enough for Arsenal to take anything more than a point from this game. From the moment they scored their opener until Hector Bellerin’s late leveller, Wenger’s team were dreadful. For them, and for Wilshere, the steps forward remain small ones.