A fully fit squad would have been the dream scenario for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta from the March international break. And he's three steps away from having those prayers answered ahead of his side's return to Premier League action against London rivals Crystal Palace.
The biggest fear most - if not all - managers will have for any international break is getting their players back in the same state they left in. Although, the Gunners boss wasn't afforded that luxury with Bukayo Saka (positive Covid-19 test) and Nuno Tavares (injury) withdrawing from the England and Portugal Under-21 squads respectively.
Furthermore, Arteta was given cause for concern when Emile Smith Rowe missed the Three Lions' 2-1 win over Switzerland last Saturday, whilst given that Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey do not have the best injury records since arriving in north London, fingers would have been crossed the pair returned to Arsenal safely.
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Well, the good news is that the aforementioned trio are fine and should be in contention to face Crystal Palace next week. Partey scored the all important goal as Ghana qualified for the World Cup at Nigeria's expense, Tierney played 90 minutes in both of Scotland's games and Smith Rowe was a second half substitute as England beat Ivory Coast 3-0.
Meanwhile, those considered to be part Arsenal's best starting XI like Benjamin White, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard have completed their international commitments without any setbacks as have fringe players such as Nicolas Pepe, Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny.
Having been handed a major boost with Gabriel Martinelli getting some minutes under his belt for Brazil after missing the win over Aston Villa through illness, Arteta will be hopeful that the good news continues to flow ahead of Monday's trip to Selhurst Park as he went into the two-week break with almost every single first-team player fit and available for selection.
And when taking into consideration that Tavares' social media activity suggests his injury isn't too serious and with Takehiro Tomiyasu on the verge of making his return from injury, it means Arteta is awaiting two announcements for his dream international break to be confirmed.
The first of which is Saka returning a negative Covid-19 test that allows him to resume training - if he hasn't done so already - and the other is a positive update on Aaron Ramsdale as injury ruled the goalkeeper out of the 1-0 win over Villa and caused him to miss England's friendlies. As per Premier Injuries, he has a 50% chance of facing Palace, if that percentage doubles in the coming days then the dream international break becomes a reality.
Very soon, Arteta will discover if he will have a fully fit Arsenal squad at his disposal for the trip to Selhurst Park as the north London outfit enter a defining period of the campaign that could end with a place in next season's Champions League group phase.
