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Football London
Football London
Sport
Robert Warlow

Arsenal training: Who trained, who didn't and what happened with David Luiz and Reiss Nelson

Arsenal's players have been busy stepping up their preparations for their latest Europa League fixture today (Wednesday).

The Gunners take on Belgian side Standard Liege at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow (Thursday), with Unai Emery's men looking to continue their impressive start to the group stage of the competition, after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 in their opening match last month.

And Emery's men have been out on the training ground today in front of the watching media, with football.london among those in attendance at London Colney ahead of the visit of the Belgian side.

So what happened in training? And were there any notable absentees? We take a look below.

The good news for Arsenal fans is that the injury list is getting shorter by the day at London Colney, with Unai Emery getting close to having a full squad to choose from.

Alexandre Lacazette is the only player currently sidelined with an ankle injury, although the Frenchman has been back in the gym this week as he builds up his fitness ahead of a possible return.

He was not involved in the training session today though, with the 28-year-old expected to be out until after the upcoming international break.

He won't be involved tomorrow, and the home game against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday is also expected to come too soon for him.

But other players who have been out injured in recent weeks, including Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding, were all involved at London Colney and are in contention to feature against Standard Liege.

One player who is a doubt though is Emile Smith Rowe, with the 19-year-old working on his fitness on his own.

The teenager was taken off in the recent Carabao Cup clash against Nottingham Forest after a clash of heads.

Emile Smith Rowe is assessed after a clash of heads against Nottingham Forest. (Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

Another player missing from training was defender Konstantinos Mavropanos, who featured for the Gunners' U21 side in a Football League Trophy clash against Peterborough United last night (Tuesday).

Mavropanos has not yet featured for the first team this season, after missing the start of the campaign through injury, but he has sent a message to supporters as he moves closer to a return.

Meanwhile, the usual suspects were all present in training, with Unai Emery having no new fitness concerns following the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday night.

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil in action against Nottingham Forest. ((Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images))

As such, players like Mesut Ozil, Holding, Bellerin and Tierney are all in contention to feature for the Gunners.

There was a good atmosphere at training among the players though, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli arm-in-arm in their warm-up jogs, while the players enjoyed a game of keepy-uppies during the session, in addition to their usual fitness drills and work with the ball.

Bellerin was among those involved, while a light-hearted moment occurred during the game of keepy-uppies, which also featured David Luiz, Martinelli and Reiss Nelson.

It had to happen to someone, and Nelson was the unfortunate player to make a mistake as the ball hit the ground, with his team-mates quick to tease him for messing it up with some playful slaps on his head, seemingly ribbing the 19-year-old for his latest haircut.

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