Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori are both early injury doubts for Arsenal’s Premier League match against Aston Villa on Tuesday night.
Timber suffered an injury during Arsenal’s victory over Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night and failed to make the matchday squad for the 2-1 win at home to Brighton on Saturday.
Calafiori, meanwhile, was named in the starting line-up against Brighton but was forced to pull out of the match after aggravating a pre-existing injury during the warm-up.
‘There are injuries with Jurrien he landed awkwardly,’ Mikel Arteta said after the win against Brighton.
‘And something with Ricci [Calafiori] was very, very strange.
‘It’s something that he felt yesterday, something very awkward that happened and today in the warm-up he wasn’t comfortable.’
Timber and Calafiori now only have two days to recover before Arsenal host Villa at the Emirates Stadium next Tuesday.
Arteta, however, was boosted by the return of Gabriel Magalhaes in the second half against Brighton.
‘We got Gabi earlier than expected,’ Arteta said.
‘The medical staff I think have done an incredible job. The way he pushes himself as well, and that’s what we need because we lose one and we get someone else back.’
In Timber’s absence, Declan Rice played at right-back and was praised by Arteta for his attitude.
‘What I like is we have a lot of issues dealing with it [injuries] in an incredible way,’ Arteta said.
‘Yesterday we lost Jurrien, today we lost Calafiori in the warm-up, Declan has to play as a full-back and you see the performance he put in. That’s the spirit and that’s how much our players want it.
Prefer us to the others? Then tell Google!
As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
‘You speak to Declan and tell him he needs to play as a right winger and he says, ‘okay, I’m up for the challenge, I’m going to do my best’, and the attitude is great to witness.’
The 2-1 win against Brighton restored Arsenal’s two-point advantage at the top of the Premier League after Manchester City temporarily took the lead with their 2-1 win away to Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s early kick-off.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.