Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard could feature in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Southampton, but Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie are out.
Timber withdrew from international duty after missing the Carabao Cup final with an unspecified issue, while Odegaard has been sidelined for the last six games with a knee problem originally sustained against Brentford in December.
“Those are in contention to possibly be in the squad,” [Arteta said on Friday.](https://www.arsenal.com/news/every-word-artetas-pre-southampton-presser-0)
Their potential return is timely given Eze, who picked up a calf problem against Bayer Leverkusen, and Hincapie, who pulled up while playing for Ecuador, look set for an extended spell on the sidelines. Reports have already suggested the midfielder will miss the whole of April.
“Ebs, I cannot put a finger \[on how long he’s out\] because I don’t know, because he’s a special character.”
Noni Madueke, also injured on international duty, will miss the trip to St Mary’s, although he could be back in time for next weekend’s showdown with Bournemouth.
“It looked really, really bad, and Noni was really worried, especially after what happened in his other knee a few weeks ago, and he was out for six weeks. But no, he’s nowhere near that injury, so that was really good news.”
Much to the annoyance of rival fans, Arsenal had a number of players pull out of last week’s Interlull, both before and after the first round of fixtures.
It remains to be seen whether William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Martin Zubimendi, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard, all excused by their countries, will be involved at the weekend. You suspect at least some will be, otherwise Arteta will have little choice but to turn to the Academy to make up the numbers.
With Arsenal facing at least 10 games between now and the end of the season, and possibly as many as 15 if they reach the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League, keeping players fit will be a challenge. It therefore feels a bit over the top that the club has been criticised for pulling players from international duty, when this is the last opportunity to rest tired legs before a summer that includes the World Cup.
Arteta, who was this week awarded the Barclays Manager of the Month for March, was asked about the reaction.
He suggested there were good reasons for the decisions taken, reiterating that he supports players representing their countries when they are fit.
“I think when a player is fit and available to play, he has to play, and it makes us so proud that we have that many players in the national team.
“The players are desperate to play with the national team, and we know how important it is every time that they are together, and the time that they spend in preparation means a lot to them. So we are fully supportive of that, and when we can do it, we do it.”
Asked how many injured players might return tomorrow, he added: “You will see. I continue the speculation; you can judge it afterwards.”
He then hinted that some journalists might need to revisit their earlier takes.
“Was what I said right? Or I have to maybe change and delete and write something else?”
“We are in a position now that we are going to make the strongest line-ups and decisions that we possibly can to win every competition. We are two or three games away in the FA Cup, and we know how important that competition is for us.”
As for the goalkeeping situation, Arteta kept his cards close to his chest. Kepa made a costly mistake in the Carabao Cup final last time out, but could still continue ahead of David Raya, whose focus this season has been the league and European games.
“I think tomorrow the goalkeeper is going to be European, is under 32, right-footed and speaks at least two languages,” joked the manager.