Santi Cazorla says it is "great to be back" after he recovered from a five-month injury lay-off to return to action for Arsenal's Under-21 side on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old midfielder has been forced to watch from the sidelines for a large period of this term after he suffered a knee injury against Norwich City at the end of November.

Cazorla played 60 minutes in the Gunners' junior side for their 2-1 play-off semi-final win over Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates Stadium, providing an assist for Chris Willock's winning goal.

“I’m very happy to be back,” he told Arsenal Player. “It is a great feeling after five months.

"I need to keep up the hard work with my team-mates in the first team and I want to play the last two games.

"I would like to help the first team at the weekend against Manchester City. [Arsène Wenger] has the decision, but I will try to play at the weekend. We need to win the last two games as we want to finish in the top four.

"We need to fight until the end to try to get second place. If we win the last two games, we can do that. I want to help my team-mates.”

Cazorla has featured in 14 Premier League matches during the campaign, but could be in line to return for the north Londoners' crunch tie with Manchester City next weekend.

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