Mikel Arteta provides concerning William Saliba injury update
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta sounded downbeat about William Saliba's injury progress during his pre-match press conference before Friday's game against Southampton.
The Frenchman suffered a back injury in the second leg of the Gunners' Europa League round of 16 tie with Sporting CP and hasn't been seen since.
A timeline has never been put on when Saliba might return to action, though a picture of him sitting on a training bike alongside Mohamed Elneny offered hope to Arsenal supporters desperate to see him return alongside Gabriel.
But speaking to the press, just four days after Arsenal blew a two-goal lead at West Ham to allow Manchester City to close the gap at the top of the Premier League table to four points, Arteta suggested that Saliba hasn't made the kind of progress that would yield a return to the side.
"No big news. The picture hasn’t changed from last week. Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more," the Spaniard said.
"He is not progressing as quick as we hoped. It’s a bit delicate and we want to be very certain when we push him that he is ready to absorb the load and the risk that we will take and at the moment that’s not possible to do.
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"I don’t know, it’s a bit early to do [predictions]. Probably next week we are going to have more certainty. There is some evolution, he is doing more activity, but he is not there yet to start to throw him on the pitch at the level that the sessions demand to compete in this league."
Rob Holding has stepped into the breach at centre-back because of Takehiro Tomiyasu also being sidelined - Ben White would perhaps had shifted across from right-back had the Japan international been available - but hasn't looked entirely comfortable in a side that have played some superb football at times.
Diogo Jota won a penalty from Holding during Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, before Michail Antonio gave him a tough outing at the London Stadium on Sunday.
Nevertheless, Arteta is confident that his side can overcome those dropped points, adding: "Twists and turns are part of everything that you do, especially in football.
"It’s not always going to be a linear progression. You have to know that and you have to be prepared for that. The way the team reacted was incredibly positive and we want to see that tomorrow night when we get onto that field.
On this edition of The Chronicles of a Gooner, part of the 90min podcast network, Harry Symeou discusses the recent links to Southampton's Romeo Lavia and the latest on William Saliba's fitness.
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!