Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the media about the fitness of some key players.
The Gunners take on Leicester City on Saturday in their second Premier League game.
Their first was against Crystal Palace, a game they won.
For that game, they were without several key players, including Takehiro Tomiyasu, Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe.
Advert
Kieran Tierney had been a concern, but made the squad and even featured for 10 minutes.
With the games and their intensity to undoubtedly increase as the season gets underway, Arsenal will need their players back and fully fit.
In a boost before the weekend, Mikel Arteta has been speaking on just that, saying:
“The boys have been training fantastically well.”
The Spaniard went on to hint at the possibility of an inclusion in the match-day squad:
“They are in different phases, but some of them will be in the squad tomorrow.”
Arteta wasn't willing to give any specifics away, but we can assume Tomiyasu is likely one of the names to be involved.
The Japanese international took a step-up in his recovery when he played 45 minutes for Arsenal U21s last week.
On Tierney, who suffered a knee injury last season that required surgery, Arteta sounded positive:
“He played 15-20 minutes last weekend, and he did really well.
"He's been out for a long time after the knee injury but it looks in perfect condition now and ready to go."
Arsenal fans will be excited to see the Scotsman, who gives the manager an interesting dilemma after Oleksandr Zinchenko's great debut against Crystal Palace.
However, there is unfortunate news on the injury front too.
Reiss Nelson has suffered an injury, which Arteta is concerned by:
“He felt something in training. We scanned it and the doctor came with some bad news.
"It’s a muscular injury and hopefully he will be back soon. They need to do another test and hopefully next week, we’ll have more information.”
According to James Benge of CBSSports, the winger is expected to be out for around two months.
This is a critical blow to Nelson's chance of a move away from the club, and will see him miss out on some Cup games also.
This injury is only the latest in a unfortunate run of events for the 22-year-old, and Arsenal will be hoping he can come back stronger.
Topics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Kieran Tierney, Injury, Emile Smith-Rowe
Evan Lloyd