Arteta will have limited options on SundayArteta will have limited options on Sunday
Arteta will have limited options on Sunday | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Mikel Arteta has been speaking about Arsenal’s injury issues heading into their final game of the season.
Arsenal have lost another two defenders to injury ahead of their last Premier League game. The Gunners face Southampton away from home on Sunday in what is a pretty meaningless fixture.
Speaking ahead of the game, Arteta confirmed that Jurrien Timber is out after surgery, and William Saliba is also out. He explained: “Jurrien had surgery on Tuesday morning on his ankle. He's been feeling that discomfort for many, many weeks. He's been navigating through the season with that issue and it needed to be resolved, so he's going to be out for a while. And Saliba, he felt something in his hamstring in the first half [against Newcastle], just before half-time. And again, he's going to be out for a few weeks.”
On Timber, he added: “We don't know yet. It will depend how the recovery goes. It will be weeks, but we don't know exactly how much. Hopefully, it will be somewhere near the pre-season, if everything goes well, but we don't know yet.” Arteta confirmed that Saliba’s recovery will take “a few weeks.”
With Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhaes, Timber and Saliba all out, Arsenal are down to five defenders between Jakub Kiwior, Kieran Tierney, Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori.
Arteta went on to confirm that he will have to “wait and see” if Thomas Partey will be fit to play in what could be his final game in an Arsenal shirt, while there is better news on Kai Havertz, who has not suffered any further setbacks after his return off the bench last weekend when he got back from his hamstring issue that kept him sidelined since February.
“You could tell how excited he was,” Arteta said of Havertz’s return. “He's been working so hard. I think he's done great with the medical staff to get back in the shape and in the form that he is at the moment. He was desperate to contribute and I'm pretty happy to see him back.”
Arteta on the keys to next season
Asked about the importance of next season and the most important aspect as Arsenal look to end their wait for a major trophy, Arteta said: “Alignment. Everybody at the end. We all feel the same way, that we feel that we are capable. It's not just a dream or it's not just something you want to do, it's that we have everything that is needed to do that. And even if you do, there are a lot of things that are going to play a part to win.
“A lot of things, what the performance is going to be, the squad quality, what the availability is going to be, referees, the schedule, who you play, when, in what kind of form they are, how many days you have to recover. And then the randomness of football - I cannot control what can happen in that dressing room to somebody in his personal life that can affect his performance, or that something happens, or competitors do something like in the history of this league. You have cynicism, then boom, they do that and then there is a lot of randomness there. So, things that we can control, I guarantee we will do our very best.”
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