Arsenal suffered another injury blow to their beleaguered defence after Bukayo Saka limped out of their draw with Burnley at Turf Moor.
Saka, 18, was unable to play any part in the second half of the goalless stalemate after a foul by Clarets right-back Matt Lowton early in the game.
By the time the youngster made his way to the Arsenal team bus over an hour after his substitution he was visibly still in pain and was walking with a limp.
“He had a knock in his knee and his hip so we'll see,” Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said.
The club’s medical team will assess Saka’s injury over the coming days but its timing is undoubtedly unfortunate.
Arsenal are without first-choice left-back Kieran Tierney until at least March after he fractured his shoulder whilst Sead Kolasinac has been out since mid-January with a thigh strain. The Bosnian international did not pass a late fitness test and was not part of the squad that travelled to the north west.
Saka’s knock was all the crueller as he had given Burnley such difficulty early in the match, his darts beyond Jeff Hendrick freeing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to drift infield from a left wing position and join Alexandre Lacazette in central areas.
Without Saka Arteta was forced to make do and mend, repurposing central midfielder Granit Xhaka into a left-back role that made Arsenal far less of an attacking force whilst also freeing Hendrick to drive forward and make contributions in advanced areas for Burnley.
“He's been a threat for us and the way we planned the game we thought we could exploit him and he did really well when he was fit,” Arteta noted.
“I think the last 10 minutes he was carrying his injury, we decided to substitute him because he wasn't feeling too good so tomorrow we will know how he is.”
Saka’s injury certainly did not go down with Burnley supporters who booed the youngster on almost every occasion he touched the ball.
The war of words between the two clubs showed little sign of easing off after a tempestuous affair at Turf Moor where the Clarets came within milimetres of victory when Jay Rodriguez’s close-range shot into an empty net cannoned back off the crossbar.
Burnley boss Sean Dyche offered what appeared to be a sarcastic assessment of an Arsenal side who were fouled on just eight occasions, saying: "It is lovely to watch when people are falling over, it is my favourite part.
“The game is in a fantastic state. No-one wants to address it apart from me, so I am absolutely happy with the state of the game."
Dyche did not name any specific incident he may have been referring to but the 48-year-old has continually taken issue with what he views as gamesmanship from Arsenal on the occasions the two sides have met.
