Arsenal star Declan Rice was taken off against Chelsea, and now Mikel Arteta has delivered a new injury update ahead of the Gunners' Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion
Declan Rice during an Arsenal game
Declan Rice came off for Arsenal against Chelsea(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
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Mikel Arteta has provided an Arsenal injury update on Declan Rice ahead of their Premier League trip to Brighton.
The Gunners manager revealed the midfielder requested to be taken off late in Sunday's victory over Chelsea after seemingly aggravating his knee during a recovery run.
With the swift turnaround to Wednesday's trip to the Amex Stadium, Rice became a significant fitness concern, whilst doubts also surfaced regarding David Raya following the 2-1 triumph at the Emirates Stadium. However, Arteta was able to deliver encouraging news on both players.
Speaking at Tuesday's press conference, he said: "[Rice] I hope so [will be okay], he was much better today. David is good, good to go."
Arsenal were missing Martin Odegaard for their most recent London derby, with the Norwegian captain troubled by fitness concerns in recent weeks.
He recovered from a minor knee complaint to face Tottenham last month but was missing from Sunday's matchday squad, with Arteta explaining he was still experiencing discomfort and therefore it was deemed too risky to include him.
Kai Havertz returned to the squad and featured for 15 minutes, with Arteta providing fresh updates on both players. In his latest assessment, he said: "Yeah, especially Kai, he's done a part of the session, so we'll wait and see if he is okay. Martin is the other one, we'll see."
Arteta subsequently confirmed that Ben White remains sidelined. Regarding other injury updates, Max Dowman continued his rehabilitation from an ankle problem on Friday night, featuring for 45 minutes in an under-21s fixture.
Should Rice be unavailable against the Seagulls, Mikel Merino would have been the ideal stand-in but he is presently sidelined with a foot injury requiring surgery.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reacts
Mikel Arteta gave injury updates on several Arsenal players(Image: Getty Images)
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One encouraging note for Arsenal was Arteta confirming no new fitness concerns emerged, with fixtures against Brighton, Mansfield Town, Bayer Leverkusen (x2) and Everton on the horizon.
Fabian Hurzeler has an equally limited injury list with just two players definitively ruled out, as the Brighton manager suggested Yasin Ayari could make his return.
Hurzeler said: "He trained yesterday, so hopefully he reacts fine to the first training session, and then we have another one today, and I'm quite confident that he will be an option for tomorrow."
Adam Webster and Stefanos Tzimas are the two long-term casualties for Brighton, with both having undergone knee operations.