Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber has revealed he played through injury at the end of the season, with Mikel Arteta aware of the problem too.
[Voetbal International](https://www.vi.nl/nieuws/voetblessure-achtervolgde-timber-trainde-alleen-dag-voor-de-wedstrijd-) cover comments from the 24-year-old today, made in an interview on Matchday, the talk show of music group Broederliefde.
The defender battled back this season to be a key player for Arsenal after missing the entirety of his first season after tearing his cruciate ligament after joining from Ajax.
He made 48 appearances in all competition, managing 3680 minutes in total across the Premier League, Champions League, EFL Cup and FA Cup.
Timber was in and out of the side in the Champions League group stages but a firm fixture once the quarter finals rolled around, playing 90 minutes in the two games against Real Madrid and then 83 minutes in the two defeats to Paris Saint-Germain.
The latter was particularly difficult work for him as he admits he was suffering from an injury in the heel on the same foot where he’d been suffering from an ankle injury.
That was something Mikel Arteta was aware of but decided to risk the Dutchman anyway despite him struggling.
_“It got worse and worse. I had an Oranje scan, and the conclusion was that I had to undergo surgery at the end of the season. I wanted to play at Arsenal, but it was hard,”_ he said.
_“Sometimes the pain is much worse. I’ve been through how that feels now. I only trained one day before the match. I thought I have no idea how to finish this, because I couldn’t even run. But in the second half I got adrenaline again and in the eightieth minute it was time to get out._
_“I didn’t train all those weeks and was stressing for that second semifinal. It hurt so much. The manager thinks: ‘Jur has had a scan, it can’t get worse, make sure you’re ready’, but he doesn’t see how much pain I’m in.”_