White 'out for months', Calafiori 'back in the squad' ahead of Forest

Much to Mikel Arteta's reflief, the international break is over and players are now all back at the club ahead of the Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Arsenal have been unlucky throughout the course of this first-half of the season, with injuries woes forcing the Spanish head coach to turn to 'prayers'.

Trossard, Saka, Rice, Calafiori, White, Timber, Tomiyasu and Tierney have been the injury-struck players within the Gunners' squad recently, but things are slowly now getting better for Arteta, who provided a fitness update during his press conference on Friday ahead of Saturday's game. "There’s been some positives, some others not so," Arteta said, before going through each player's physical conditon.

"Trossard seems to be ok, he trained this morning and seems to be feeling good. We will assess everything with the doctor right now, as he was able to be part of that session, so that's good," he said. The 29-year-old was substituted early on with an injury during Belgium's Nations League game last Sunday. On England duo Saka and Rice, who missed out on the Three Lions matches over the break, Arteta added: "They have had their first partial session today, so very good as well".

Riccardo Calafiori also handed Arsenal positive news, as the head coach confirmed he will be in the squad for Forest. "Ricci trained today, so his rehab is going really well. He was able to do certain things last week with the physios, and trained on the pitch this week with us and today, so he will be in the squad," he revealed. But while the Italian defender is ready to make his comebback, fans will have to wait before they see Tierney and Tomiyasu back to action. "Kieran - not yet. He had a couple of sessions with the team but is not ready yet to be with the team, and Tomiyasu is going to be out as well for a bit," Arteta said on the pair.

The former Man City assistant also spoke on Ben White, who has recently underwent a surgical procedure on his knee. The defender played the full game in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, but has been carrying multiple issues since the start of the season. On the Englishman Arteta said: "Ben is going to be out for months. It’s been different kind of struggles, it’s never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision in the last few weeks, unfortunately. We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point where we had to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that, and obviously it will keep him out for a few months. We have to see how he reacts post-surgery, I don't expect him to be out for half a season or year but I cannot tell you exactly [how long]."

 

November 22, 2024