Under-fire Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has issued an update on the fitness of Kieran Tierney and Ben White following his side’s second successive Premier League defeat.
White tested positive for the coronavirus and so missed the Gunners’ loss to Chelsea on Sunday evening, with boos ringing round the Emirates Stadium.
To make matters even more difficult for Arteta, he also saw first-choice left-back Kieran Tierney forced off with injury 24 minutes from time.
The Scot has starred for Arsenal since joining from Celtic, but has been hit by a succession of injuries over recent seasons, missing significant game-time as a result.
Having played for Scotland at Euro 2020, Tierney was granted extra time off ahead of the new season.
And that appears to be a key factor in his injury on Sunday, with Arteta pointing to the length of time without playing a full game as the reason behind his substitution.
Striker Gabriel Martinelli was also forced off, though Arteta hinted that his injury was less serious than that of Tierney’s.
“They had to limp off. I don’t know KT [Tierney] had an issue with his quad and Gabi was cramping,” Arteta said.
“With Bukayo they have not played 90 minutes for a long, long time, but we have to ask them to do that right now when they are not fully prepared. But they tried really hard the boys.”
While Martinelli should be able to recover from his issue in time to face Manchester City next week, White looks unlikely to recover in time from his bout of coronavirus.
It is a situation that is proving to be highly challenging for Arteta, though the Gunners boss insisted that his side must push through their “unprecedented” problems.
“I don’t think so no,” he said when asked if White would be ready to face City at the Etihad Stadium next Saturday.
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“It’s really challenging at the moment. We’re missing nine players, and the majority of them are big senior players. It’s what we have.
“We put a team out there that will probably be unprecedented in the history of this football club. But credit to the boys how they’re trying the passion that they tried to bring to the team.
“They are playing with a lot of courage in this situation which is tough when you know the highlights are on you. They are trying their best but at the moment it’s not enough to win football matches.”
Though Arteta is battling with an injury-ravaged squad, the Spaniard is already under severe pressure to turn around his side’s fortunes.
They were defeated by Brentford in their first game of the season, before being outclassed by Chelsea on Sunday.
The Blues enjoyed an astonishing 65 per cent of the possession at the Emirates, with the Gunners set for another long afternoon when they travel north to Manchester next Saturday lunchtime.
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