Arsenal will be without both Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapie for this week’s clash with Lille in the Champions League.
Both players are set to miss out after picking up injuries despite barely featuring in recent weeks.
Hincapie was injured in this weekend’s warm down after the Gunners beat Leeds, while it’s reported that Zubimendi picked up a knee injury during a similar sort of session and is also now facing a spell on the sidelines.
For many Arsenal fans, seeing players injured in what are meant to be light sessions to simply keep some fitness in the players, is extremely frustrating.
However, according to Mikel Arteta, it’s business as usual and he would not change a thing.
What Mikel Arteta said about Zubimendi and Hincapie injuries
Seeing Arsenal lose two key players in the squad just before the Champions League campaign gets underway is not ideal at all.
Nevertheless, Arteta was adamant that the club has done nothing wrong and insisted that while unfortunate, he will keep on with his plan.
“Well, the temptation is now, oh, we don’t want to take that risk and we’ll do something else. But we were going to do that anyway the next day,” Arteta said in his press conference today.
“When you play this kind of small-sided games, there is contact, and these things have happened. They didn’t happen once last season and we did it 37 times I think. My question was, if we had to do this again, the way we planned the seven days that we had in that period, with players that didn’t have enough load, would it be the case?
“The answer is yes, and it’s a sport of contact, and this can happen. What we can do is guys, they are so competitive, when we do that, please don’t touch each other too much? That’s it.”
Arteta knows he is going to need the full strength of his squad in the coming weeks and months. Indeed, with Man City very much dominating at the moment, the Gunners boss needs everyone at their best.
Losing Hincapie and Zubimendi is not ideal. But when one door shuts, another opens for someone else and there will be others at London Colney who will be keen to seize the moment.