Mikel Arteta has provided a cautious injury update on his Arsenal squad ahead of this weekend’s clash with Wolves.
Arsenal host Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday evening, as top meets bottom in the table. The Gunners saw their lead in the title race reduced to two points last weekend and will be keen to avoid an upset, against a Wolves side who are winless after 14 games.
However, the North Londoners are dealing with several absences. William Saliba, Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all missed the midweek Champions League win at Club Brugge.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Arteta could not guarantee any of that quarter would be fit to face Wolves.
“We have to wait and see. He hasn’t trained with us yet. Let’s see if he can be available,” Arteta said on Saliba.
Discussing Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice, Arteta added that both would be assessed.
“It depends how he (Timber) feels today. It’s a matter of days but whether it’s tomorrow or not we will wait and see.
“Let’s see how he (Rice) is today. He was ill, normally in a few days it gets resolved but we have to wait to see how far he can push.”
On Leandro Trossard, Arteta suggested the Belgium winger would be unavailable for Saturday’s game at the Emirates.
“Another one that is a matter of days. Sounds boring but that is the reality so we don’t know.”
Arteta praises Arsenal adaptability amid injuries
Arteta used Christian Norgaard in an unfamiliar centre-back role against Club Brugge and is confident the Dane can deputise again if required.
“It comes down to the mentality of the players, the intelligence of a player like Christian – how to fulfil a role when in the morning you tell him that he needs to play in hat position because we don’t have anyone else to play there. We have a lot of examples of players playing in different positions, like Mikel Merino. It gives us an edge.”
