Wenger 'massively pleased' by Jenkinson England debut

Nov 16, 2012 10:05:00 AM

The Arsenal manager has expressed his delight after seeing the 20-year-old make a substitute appearance for the Three Lions during their defeat to Sweden on Wednesday

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has declared himself delighted for Carl Jenkinson after the defender made his England debut against Sweden on Wednesday evening.

The 20-year-old, who previously represented Finland at Under-21 level, came on for the final 16 minutes of the Three Lions' 4-2 defeat to the Zlatan Ibrahimovic-inspired Swedes.

And Wenger believes a first senior international cap could do wonders for the young right-back's confidence.

“I’m massively pleased for Carl because he had a good start to the season and was rewarded last night,” Wenger told Arsenal Player. “That will hopefully boost his confidence as well.

“I’m very happy. It was quite an interesting game. England did not get the result, but for me they played well in big parts of the game. There were a lot of positives in that game for England.”

The Frenchman went on to express his relief that Santi Cazorla did not feature in Spain’s 5-1 win over Panama, insisting the attacker needed to rest.

“I believe he didn’t need games,” Wenger continued. “He was overloaded with games so on that front I was happy that he got a little breather.

“It is not a complete breather because 20 hours travelling is of course not what we want. It’s the advantage and the disadvantage of being called up in a squad. At least he didn’t get injured and hopefully will recover before Saturday.”

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