Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes star attacker Alexis Sanchez 'could have been killed' during the incident involving Norwich City centre-back Ryan Bennett that saw him end up in a Carrow Road camera pit during the recent Premier League draw.

The Chile forward landed heavily in the vicinity of the cameraman situated pitch-side in front of the Jarrold Stand after a push from Bennett in the first-half, before later being withdrawn with a hamstring injury that is set to keep him out for the festive spell.

Wenger was forced to defend his decision to play the 26-year-old in his post-match media interviews, after Sanchez had felt his hamstring following the Champions League victory over Dinamo Zagreb a few days earlier, when the Frenchman claimed all of the club's medical tests showed he was in peak fitness to start at Carrow Road.

The long-serving manager was again questioned prior to Saturday's Premier League game against Sunderland - and while Wenger is happy to take the blame for the growing number of injuries to his squad - he also pointed to Sanchez's heavy fall into the camera pit area as a contributory factor that could have been even worse for the former Barcelona man.

'First of all it's dangerous to have a camera there,' Wenger said. 'He could have killed him. Secondly, he (Bennett) didn't need to push him like he did. I think the camera position was absolutely dangerous.

'When he was pushed into the boards on the side of the field that did not shock anybody. That injury can come from that as well. I'm not expert enough to know but if you want to blame me I'm okay with it.'

Bennett became embroiled in a twitter exchange with high profile Arsenal fan Piers Morgan after the 1-1 draw following the game regarding the incident when he tweeted: 'Genuinely was trying to stop not push Sanchez just to clear that up.'