Mikel Arteta remains confident Declan Rice hasn’t suffered any long-term damage after he was forced off at half-time against Spurs on Sunday.
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The Arsenal manager was, however, a little more circumspect on the fitness of Bukayo Saka who limped off during the closing stages of the north London derby.
Arteta described Rice’s withdrawal at the weekend as ‘strange’ given his almost flawless fitness record over the course of his West Ham career, but his hopeful he will return in time for Saturday’s game at Bournemouth.
Asked for an update on the club’s record signing ahead of tomorrow night’s Carabao Cup tie at Brentford, Arteta said: ‘He hasn’t trained yet, obviously he could not carry on in the game at all, but hopefully it’s not something big.
‘We are confident, he is still uncomfortable, he had to leave pitch which is never a good sign but hopefully he will progress in the next few days.’
Saka, meanwhile, was playing an Arsenal record 86th consecutive Premier League match but that run now appears to be in serious jeapordy.
‘He was limping quite badly after the match,’ Arteta added.
‘We had to get him off the field. He hasn’t been able to participate in the session. It’s a possibility (he could miss Bournemouth).’
Gabriel Martinelli, who suffered a hamstring strain in the recent win over Everton, remains sidelined while Leandro Trossard is also set to miss tomorrow’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium.
‘Won’t be available (for Brentford),’ for Brentford said Arteta when asked for an update on the Belgium international. ‘Let’s see how he improves day by day. He did some activity and that’s why he felt it.’
Thomas Partey, meanwhile, was said to be making significant progress in his recovery from his latest muscular injury and was said to be in contention to feature for a potential summit meeting against Manchester City in a fortnight’s time.
Arteta, however, confirmed the Ghana international, who has started the season as a makeshift right-back, was still not available for selecton.
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