Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed he never expected striker Nicklas Bendtner to be so fit at this stage of the season, adding how he worked extremely hard to recover from injury.

The Danish International missed pre-season and the first three months of the season but has been on fire since making his comeback into the squad, scoring against Manchester City in the Premier League and Newcastle United, last Wednesday, in the Carling Cup.

According to the Frenchman, the 22-year old has finally recovered from all injury problems and will be at his best in the next three or four weeks.

During his West Ham pre-match press conference, Wenger also confirmed how the Gunners will fight for every single trophy this season.

After easing past the Magpies in mid-week, the Gunners will try to mathematically qualify for the next stage of the Champions League when they face Shakhtar Donetsk next week with Wenger highlighting the importance of qualifying for Europe’s most important competition.

On Friday, the Frenchman said:

It is surprising how fit [Bendtner] was [against Newcastle]. He has worked extremely hard.

We have not seen the real Bendtner since Tottenham last October, when he got a big problem with his groin. He played at the end of the season and at the World Cup but it was not Bendtner at full power because he was not right with his groin.

This is the first time I have seen him again completely right, so in the next three or four weeks you should see the real Nicklas back.

[This season we want] to go as far as we can on all fronts.

It is very difficult to predict today, but there is a lot more to come out of this team. I feel the ingredients of successful teams that I had before are in there. It is just about how much we can get them out.

We also of course need to keep all of our players fit. But as long as the attitude is right and at the end of the season when you look back you think ‘this team has given absolutely everything’, I will be proud of them. After we will see how far that it.

There are some basics which have to be respected. It is important that priorities are there, for us it is vital to always be at the top level, and the top level is being in the Champions League.

But if you ask all of our fans, they will want to win every single trophy – they will not rule out the Champions League, nor the championship, and for me they are right, because I am exactly the same.

That is why I say let’s give our best in every single competition and see where we stand at the end of the season.