The overall feeling at Emirates Stadium on Sunday may have been one of positivity after Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to 2020 with victory over Everton, but there was one incident that dampened the mood.
The sight of Sead Kolasinac walking through the mixed zone in the bowels of the stadium with his arm in a sling was not a pleasing sight, particularly as the left-back was making his first appearance since January 11.
The Bosnian now looks set for another spell on the sidelines after injuring his shoulder against Everton and Arsenal will find out the full extent of the damage in the coming days.
It is a blow to the club, who have coped in Kolasinac’s absence thanks to the fine form of teenager Bukayo Saka, but they will hope to receive a boost this week by another left-back returning to full training.
Tierney, who coincidentally has been out of action with a shoulder injury, took part in group training sessions last week after working on his own since December to get fit.
That was the case out in Dubai as he put in extra time in the gym and on the grass and it is now paying off as he is hoping to return to full training ahead of schedule this week.
The Scotland international will need to be carefully managed back into action so he can get match-fit again but, with Kolasinac facing a spell out, Tierney’s return could be coming at just the right time for Mikel Arteta.
