Mikel Arteta has responded to questions about the likes of Declan Rice, William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera and Leandro Trossard ahead of facing Aston Villa
Mikel Arteta and Declan Rice
Mikel Arteta and Declan Rice(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was tight-lipped on the availability of several players for Saturday’s match against Aston Villa.
Declan Rice went off before the end of Arsenal’s win over Brentford with an injury, but as he left the Emirates Stadium he told Sky Sports he was “fine”.
William Saliba watched the Brentford game from behind the Arsenal dugout, and Arteta will be hoping the Frenchman can return to face Villa.
The 24-year-old suffered a knock in the final training session before the 1–1 draw at Chelsea and is set to undergo a fitness test before the squad travel to the Midlands on Friday.
Gabriel will miss the match through injury, as could Cristhian Mosquera, who suffered an ankle injury against Brentford on Wednesday night.
Leandro Trossard also faces a late fitness test after missing the last two league matches against Chelsea and the Bees.
In his pre-match press conference, Arteta was asked about the fitness of several players, including Rice.
"Well, let's see. We have another training session in the afternoon,” he said. “Every hour is going to be very important to see the availability of the players. After that, we'll decide which ones."
On assessing the fitness of Saliba and Trossard, he added: "It is a matter of days with those two, for sure. After the training session, we'll know more."
Asked about Mosquera, Arteta responded: "That's the more complicated one, but again, we have another test today to see where we are with them.
"We need to know, because the feeling that we had after the game and yesterday, we need to corroborate with what happens with all the testing that we do today."
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