Declan Rice played down fears that he may have picked up a serious injury after Arsenal’s 2-0 victory over Brentford, reassuring reporters he was ‘fine’ as he left the Emirates.
The 26-year-old central midfielder, arguably Arsenal’s standout performer in recent weeks, went down with a suspected calf problem in the closing stages of Wednesday’s all-London affair.
Pointing at his right calf while sat on the turf, it was clear Rice was in some discomfort as he spoke with Arsenal’s medical staff.
It quickly became obvious that Rice would be unable to continue and Viktor Gyokeres came on to play out the remaining minutes as Bukayo Saka added to Mikel Merino’s early strike to wrap up another convincing win for the Gunners.
There was also some concern surrounding a possible injury to Cristhian Mosquera, who landed awkwardly and had to be replaced by Jurrien Timber on the stroke of half-time.
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The injuries to Rice and Mosquera took some of the gloss off an otherwise dream night for the runaway Premier League leaders, with title rivals Chelsea slumping to a 3-1 defeat to Leeds at Elland Road.
However, it appears Arsenal fans can breathe a sigh of relief regarding Rice’s fitness – which comes as a huge boost ahead of the club’s busy winter schedule.
While walking through the mixed zone without any sign of a limp, Rice was filmed telling Sky Sports News that he was ‘fine’.
It remains to be seen if Mikel Arteta will be prepared to risk Rice when Top-of-the-table Arsenal return to action away to Aston Villa in just two days’ time.
The Arsenal boss appeared less optimistic when asked for an update on Rice’s calf issue in his post-match press conference.
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‘Obviously it’s never good news. Declan had to come off,’ Arteta told reporters.
‘We don’t know, we have to see tomorrow what he’s got.’
Arteta pleaded with the Premier League for ‘more time’ to rest and recover, with his Arsenal squad facing a rapid turnaround before taking to the field again at Villa Park.
Asked if he was able to elaborate on Rice’s injury, the Spaniard replied: ‘He could not carry on playing so we have to wait and see tomorrow what happens.
‘They play a lot of minutes but as well when, now we play Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well.
‘We can play minutes but please, give us a little more time to recover and to make the welfare of these players a little bit easier that would be great.’
Arteta revealed that there was some uncertainty surrounding the exact nature of Mosquera’s injury.
‘Mosquera is the other one that is out,’ he explained.
‘Obviously we have big Gabi [Gabriel] and Willi [William Saliba] out as well so we have to adapt.
‘We have to wait and see.
‘It’s part of the knee or ankle, we don’t know, he couldn’t tell us exactly how it was but he wasn’t able to continue.’
More to follow.