An impressive pre-season increased the clamour for Wilshere to be given more first-team opportunities amid speculation he could even make England's 2010 World Cup squad. Wenger though has taken a rather more cautious approach.
'I believe last year he paid a little bit of a price physically for a very demanding start. This year we feel that he is strong, more mature, and I'm sure that he will show that,' Wenger told Arsenal TV Online.
'It's difficult to treat them [young English players] completely the same because you want to speed up a little bit their progress, but physically I will still treat him like anybody else because most people once they get to 19 years of age - 19 or 20 without big injures - they are over-used. A big injury can always happen because you get over-use of the players.'
Wilshere looks set to start in a youthful Arsenal side, including fellow youngsters Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Sanchez Watt.
But Roberto Di Matteo's side travel to London full of confidence after Saturday's 5-0 thrashing of Middlesbrough, and the Italian is looking forward to locking horns with Wenger.
'Wenger is one of the great managers in this country, a fantastic manager,' he said.
The Baggies' former Arsenal winger Jerome Thomas paid tribute to his time at the club despite not making the grade in north London.
'You can't put a price on the education I got there. It was the best you could get anywhere,' he added.
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