Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard breaks silence on injury absence with message to fans in Bolton programme notes

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has broken his silence on his injury after missing his side’s last three games.

Odegaard was absent from Arsenal’s heavyweight clash with Manchester City on Sunday as well as the north London derby after suffering an injury in Norway’s win over Austria earlier this month.

Having been forced to hobble off during the Nations League encounter, subsequent tests showed Odegaard had sustained ligament damage which Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta described as "quite significant".

While Arsenal have been coy regarding when their skipper will return, a spate of reports have suggested the midfielder could be absent for around eight weeks.

Odegaard opened up about his injury setback for the first time in his programme notes ahead of the Gunners' Carabao Cup game against Bolton on Wednesday evening,

“It’s been a while since my last programme notes, so I thought I would start with the latest on my injury,” he said.

“It was a bad twist to my ankle, and I damaged some ligaments there, but it’s part of football and now I’m just trying to recover as quickly as I can.

“I’m moving forward, making progress and I’m feeling more positive every day. I’m working hard and my only thought is to get back as soon as possible.”

Last week Arteta admitted coping without Odegaard would be a "big test" for his Arsenal team.

The Spaniard said: “The scan showed some damage around the ligaments in the ankle so we are going to miss him.

Arteta admitted Odegaard's absence would be a big test for his team (Getty)

“It’s something quite significant so we are going to lose him for a while. Hopefully not months.”

Arteta continued: “He’s our captain. He’s been one of the biggest and best players in our team.

“Our identity is very linked to how he plays and behaves. It’s a big test for the team to see how able we are to show a different face.”