Mikel Arteta suffered another major blow to his already thin Arsenal squad after Ben White picked up an injury during the 2-1 victory over Wolves at the weekend
Ben White and Mikel Arteta during Arsenal's win over Wolves
Ben White and Mikel Arteta during Arsenal's win over Wolves(Image: ( Julian Finney/Getty Images0)
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Mikel Arteta has suffered another setback as Ben White looks to be sidelined for at least a month after picking up a hamstring injury against Wolves at the weekend. White underwent a scan on Sunday and has only recently returned from a lengthy injury lay-off.
However, he has been forced to start Arsenal's last four matches in the space of 10 days due to injuries picked up by a number of the Gunners' backline. The defender, who also suffered a different hamstring injury at the start of the season, was replaced by Myles Lewis-Skelly during the first-half of his side’s 2-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium.
And he is now facing at least a month on the sidelines. Asked about White’s injury following his side’s win on Saturday night, Arteta said: “That is bad news, for sure.
"It looks like a hamstring, so we don’t know the extent of that, but probably tomorrow or the day after we will know more.
"He hasn't played a lot of minutes because of the previous knee issue that he had. Then the moment that he started to get some momentum, he had to play a lot because we didn’t have any other solution.
"We had to even risk today, Willy (William Saliba), because probably it wasn't the best call to play 90 minutes. We were buying tickets for another injury, but we don't have anybody else."
White's injury adds to Arsenal's defensive woes, with Arteta already without Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel. Mosquera is set to be out of action until potentially mid-January after landing awkwardly during the Gunners' clash with Brentford earlier this month.
He was spotted wearing a protective boot at the Emirates on Saturday. Meanwhile, Gabriel is also expected to be sidelined until late December with a muscular injury of his own suffered during the international break last month.
Gabriel injured during Brazil vs Senegal
Arsenal star Gabriel was injured on international duty
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Elsewhere, Saliba returned to the fold at the weekend, having missed a number of games through an ankle knock. Kai Havertz has also missed the majority of the season through a knee injury and is not expected to return until later this month, while teenage sensation Max Dowman recently sustained an ankle ligament injury.
The Gunners head to Hill Dickson Stadium this weekend to take on Everton with a two-point lead at the top of the table. However, Arteta’s side did need Yerson Mosquera's stoppage-time own goal to secure them all three points against bottom-of-the-table Wolves last time out.
"It was a rollercoaster," Arteta said after the game. "The longer the game went on, they had hope and we had to accelerate our game and take more risks.
"We did find a way and that's a very positive thing, if not we'd be very frustrated and rightly so, but there are things to improve obviously."
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