Arsenal have been dealt a huge worry ahead of their Champions League clash with Monaco after Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey missed training on Tuesday.
The duo were absent from the afternoon session at Sobha Realty Training Centre, as were Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko. The fact the four defenders and Ghanaian did not train in north London will be a huge worry for Mikel Arteta, with the Gunners set to welcome Monaco to Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
Gabriel, Calafiori and Zinchenko missed Sunday's Premier League clash with Fulham, which saw the Gunners drop more points in the title race with the game finishing 1-1. Partey started at right-back while Timber started at left-back, however, and it's unclear at this stage why the duo missed the training session on Tuesday.
Arteta was asked about Gabriel, Calafiori and Zinchenko after the draw with Fulham, with the Spaniard hopeful all three would make it for the clash against Monaco. “I hope, but it’s more a question for the doctors and physios to understand where we are," the Spaniard said.
“We are missing a lot of players in the backline. The good thing is that whatever we put there they respond. They respond with a good attitude and performance.
“We know that when we have consistency there \[in defence\] how much it’s giving us. That’s a different season. It’s bringing different challenges. We’re trying to face them and we’re going to continue in that direction.”
Arteta is set to address the media once again on Tuesday afternoon. **football.london** will be in attendance and we will bring you the latest injury updates in our [live blog here.](https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/fixtures-results/arsenal-press-conference-live-mikel-30552701)