Injuries preventing Wilshere from reaching potential: Wenger

London, April 20 (IANS) Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger fears that midfielder Jack Wilshere may not be able to reach his full potential due to recurrent injuries.

Wilshere, who has been loaned out by Arsenal to AFC Bournemouth for the current season, suffered a hairline fracture to his left fibia during his team's 0-4 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and has been ruled for the rest of the campaign.

This is not the first time Wilshere has been sidelined due to injury and Wenger is worried that the 25-year-old is not being able to maintain the kind of consistency required to become a great player.

"I'm sad about this injury because Jack is a great player with a great football brain. His career has been stopped by many injuries. At the top level the most important thing is consistency," Wenger was quoted as saying by the British media on Thursday.

"When a player has been out for a while, the game is of such an intensity that it always takes you a while to get your confidence back.

"You have to be consistently present. When you look at all the players who are at the top level in the world like Cristiano Ronaldo, these guys play 50 or 60 games a year. They have the luck of not being stopped by injuries. You're always sad when a guy of Jack's quality is stopped by problems," he added.

The latest injury comes at a crucial phase of Wilshere's career, with only a year left on his contract with Arsenal.

Wenger however, felt that the England international has been in good form this season and needs to perform without the fear of being injured.

"The doubt is that you need to go on the pitch and not to worry to be injured. I believe, overall, he had a positive season on that front and this is purely accidental," Wenger said.

"It was a tackle, I think with Harry Kane. It was accidental and it could have happened even if he had no problem ever before."