The England international contested the retrospective two-match ban doled out by the three-man FA panel for his abusive gesture towards Manchester City supporters during Arsenal’s 6-3 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

However, he lost his appeal and the two-match ban was upheld, which meant that the 21-year-old missed the 0-0 tie with Chelsea and he will miss the West Ham game.

According to the Daily Mail, the length of the ban has infuriated Wenger, who believes a one-match ban was more appropriate in such circumstances. His thoughts are naturally inspired by the Luis Suarez incident at Fulham in 2011, when the Liverpool forward was seen making a similar offensive gesture but he received just a one-match ban and a £20,000 fine.

The Frenchman believes the referees should be consistent in their decisions and should produce a red card for foul language. He said, “Should we send everyone off for swearing? Yes, you want consistency in the punishment.”

He added, “The players adapt, they are intelligent people. They always test the border, to see how far they can go. They look at others and see how the referee responds and they adapt. If the referees are consistent in doing that, they will stop it but you want consistency.”

On the length of Wilshere’s ban, Wenger said, “We thought the ban was one game and that’s why we appealed. It is two, we have to accept it and to swallow it. He was wrong in his reaction, we have to accept it and wait until he comes back and focus on our next games without him.”