Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed Ben White will be out for months.
White underwent surgery last week to fix a knee issue that had been troubling him this season.
The right-back is now set for a spell on the sidelines and Arteta fears he is going to be out of action for months.
“It’s been different kinds of struggles,” Arteta said. “It’s never been the same thing. We had to make a decision. It’s not been improving in the last few weeks unfortunately.
“We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point a where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that and unfortunately that’s going to keep him out for a few months.”
Arsenal will also have to contend without fellow full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is out with a knee issue.
The Japan international picked up the injury in the summer and he has managed only six minutes since then.
Arteta does not know when Tomiyasu will be back in action and he is having treatment elsewhere to try aid his rehabilitation.
“He is going to be away now for a few weeks to continue with his treatment and as well change a little bit the environment, because psychologically it has been really, really tough for him - as you can imagine,” said Arteta.
“He is a guy that the only thing he wants to do is work 24 hours to get better and he feels terrible when he is not fit. It’s a real shame, so we are going to give him the best opportunity to try out that kind of thing.
“If it can trigger something, unlock something and try to help him, to have him as quick as possible back - but I think we need to be patient.”
