Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta blames ‘insane’ scheduling after Emile Smith Rowe injury at Leicester

Mikel Arteta says the amount of minutes players are being forced to play is “insane” after three players were forced off during Arsenal and Leicester’s match on Sunday.


Emile Smith Rowe had to come off just before half-time for Arsenal, while Leicester's Jonny Evans was forced off and Harvey Barnes was taken off on a stretcher.


Arteta, whose side ran out 3-1 winners, isn’t surprised by the rise in injuries and has placed some of the blame down to the hectic schedule.


“Well I think it is absolutely normal that it is happening,” said Arteta, when asked about a rise in injuries.


“That is why as well we needed to change players [today], because if not we were going to expose our players to get injured.


“But sometimes you don’t have a chance as a manager [to do that] because you don’t have enough players or you have the necessity to win and play them again.


“But it is insane - the amount of minutes and the games that these players are playing without any pre-season, without any break.


“You are going to get injuries. We talked about it, all the managers raised our voices at the start of the season and it’s happening.”