Arsenal skipper Laurent Koscielny came through unscathed after his first match in seven months, playing for the Under-23 side on Monday night.
Koscielny ruptured his Achilles during a Europa League semi-final tie against Atletico Madrid in May – an injury that also ruled him out of France’s World Cup campaign.
The centre-half has been back in first-team training for the past month and was named in Freddie Ljungberg’s starting line-up in a Premier League 2 match away to Derby at the Loughborough University Stadium.
Koscielny’s return was the only real positive on a disappointing night for the Under-23s, however, who suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat.
The Gunners trailed 1-0 at the break but the Frenchman’s departure opened the floodgates, with the Rams rampant in the second period.
Jordi Osei-Tutu, brought onto replace the first-team captain at the break, lasted just 10 minutes before he was shown a red card with Daniel Ballard receiving his marching orders just five minutes later following a late lunge.
Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe were not included in the squad with first-team roles likely for Thursday’s Europa League clash against Vorskla.
