Mikel Arteta reveals William Saliba injury prediction for Man City clash
- Saliba sidelined with a hamstring injury last week
- Frenchman could be sidelined for trip to Wolves this weekend
- Arteta optimistic about defender's chances of returning to face Man City
By Tom Gott
Mikel Arteta expects William Saliba to return from his hamstring injury in time to face Manchester City next week, with the Frenchman not in contention to travel to Wolves on Saturday.
Saliba unexpectedly missed the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa - a game that saw Arsenal surrender a 2-0 lead at the Emirates Stadium - and Arteta, after initially playing down the severity of the problem, admitted he was "very worried" about the Frenchman's condition.
Arteta revealed prior to Wednesday's 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League that Saliba and Bukayo Saka were making progress in their recoveries, and the Spaniard went into more detail in Friday's press conference as he also provided an update on young left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly.
"With Myles there's nothing serious on the scan so it will be a matter of today having a meeting with the medical staff and a training session and whether it's too early or not," Arteta said ahead of the Wolves game.
"With Willy it's the same. I think they'll definitely be in for next week [against Manchester City] but this week, let's see how it goes."
Reports have suggested Arsenal could welcome long-term absentee Ben White back from knee surgery in time for the following game against Newcastle United in the second leg of the Carabao Cup final.
While Arteta did not want to commit to a return date for White, he revealed the versatile defender should be back in the mix shortly.
"He hasn't trained with the team yet but he's very close to doing that," Arteta said. "He needs to tick a few boxes and then I think he will be with us pretty soon."