Wilshere: 'gesture at Man City was over verbal abuse to kids'

Jack Wilshere has revealed he stuck his middle finger up at a group of Manchester City fans because they abused him about his children.

The Football Association handed Wilshere a two-match for the gesture, which came during the second half of Arsenal‘s 6-3 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

The England midfielder missed Monday’s 0-0 draw against Chelsea and he will also sit out the Boxing Day match at West Ham.

Wilshere, who has two children, admits he made a mistake in getting riled by the supporters who abused him, and he is braced for more barracking from the stands in the future.

Wilshere tweeted: “Gutted not to be Involved last night! Shouldn’t of reacted the way I did but I know all you dads out there love your kids the way I do….

“Suppose I will just have to take the abuse about my kids in future……anyway, one more game to go! Can’t wait to be back! #AFC”

Arsenal missed Wilshere on Monday evening. They looked flat and lacked a cutting edge against a well-drilled Chelsea team who sat back and showed little attacking intent.

But Theo Walcott was happy to take a point, especially as the blustery conditions were extremely tough to play in.

“When you want to win titles, these are the games you can’t lose,” the forward said. “Chelsea came with a negative attitude but they did a job.

“We couldn’t deal with the weather conditions; it was probably the craziest game I have ever been involved in.

“Considering the conditions I’m surprised everyone stayed on the pitch.

“It was the wind – I have never known anything like it. It was very difficult to judge everything. I could tell that both sets of players were struggling to get hold of the ball and slow the tempo down.”