Norway manager reveals 'plan' for Martin Odegaard to make injury return quicker than expected
- Martin Odegaard sidelined with ankle ligament damage
- Arsenal captain got injured playing for Norway this month
- Stale Solbakken not yet ruling out October call-up
Norway manager Stale Solbakken is still hopeful that he may be able to select Martin Odegaard for the October international break, despite the Arsenal captain nursing ankle ligament damage.
Odegaard suffered the injury during the recent September round of internationals. Club boss Mikel Arteta admitted last week that the midfielder looks set to be out "for a while" and doubted he would be avaialble for Norway's October fixtures.
Arteta refused to give any sort of definitive timeframe on when Odegaard might be available to return to action, but suggested "hopefully not months".
Solbakken hasn't yet ruled Odegaard out of upcoming UEFA Nations League games against Slovenia and Austria on 10 and 13 October respectively, refusing to give up on his skipper.
"We plan with and without him," the coach told Norwegian press agency NTB.
Norway national team doctor Ola Sand is also keeping in touch with Arsenal.
If Odegaard were to be called up for international duty, he would expected to report from Monday 7 October, which is only 12 days away. The squad would be named in advance of that too, significantly squeezing the likelihood of the 25-year-old being fit enough.
After facing Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, a game which could see 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Porter make his debut as emergency injury cover for David Raya, Arsenal have games against Leicester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton before internationals.
Arteta has been very honest about how much of a blow being without Odegaard is.
"He is our captain, he is one of our biggest players without a doubt. He has been one of the most consistent players in the last two or three seasons," the manager explained.
"Our identity is very related to his way of playing and his way of behaving. We are going to have to deal with that. That is a great test for the team as well, of how capable we are to show maybe a different face and the fact we have other players and other options that can still be very effective."
READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
feed