Mikel Arteta has provided the latest on William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu's injuries after Arsenal's defeat on penalties to Sporting CP in the Europa League round of 16 at the Emirates Stadium.
Tomiyasu was forced off just nine minutes into the game after slipping awkwardly when challenging for a ball with Francisco Trincao. Saliba, meanwhile, came off immediately after the Gunners took a 1-0 lead on the night via Granit Xhaka.
Now Arteta has given the latest on the pair ahead of Sunday's crucial Premier League clash with Crystal Palace, in which Arsenal will look to extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points.
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"Tomiyasu looks pretty serious from his reaction straight and what he said to me, but obviously, it’s very early," the Spaniard said of Tomiyasu in his post-match press conference before going on to add. "Willy, I don’t know, he had some discomfort and could not continue so we had to take him out."
Tomiyasu is unlikely to have started Sunday's game with Palace after losing his place in the first team XI to Ben White for much of the season. Saliba's potential absence will be a concern, however, given that the Frenchman has started every single one of the Gunners Premier League games this season and established himself as one of the best defenders in the division.
Regardless of whether he has the pair available for the final match before the international break Arteta went on to add that he is confident his side would be able to cope in the absence of key players after their experiences already this season.
"We’ve been carrying injuries throughout the season," he said. "We had Emile out for four months, Jesus for four months, Thomas for a month and a half, Alex for two and half months, Eddie for a month and a half. We had quite a lot of injuries already, but we dealt with them. The disappointment is not going to go away it’s there now. But there’s also clarity. It’s 11 games to go now and we have a final against Crystal Palace. We have to recover and put all the focus there and win."
There was at least positive news on Gabriel Jesus who made his first start in four months after returning from a knee injury that he sustained during the World Cup. The Brazilian was withdrawn at half time of Thursday night's clash with Sporting, although Arteta revealed this was a change that had come about largely due to the fact that his side had had to use up two of their substitute windows with the injuries to Tomiyasu and Saliba in the first half.
"We decided to do that because we had to manage the subs," he said. "Thank God we did take him out, especially after the two windows that we had to use in the first half. That was the plan. Leo is coming from an injury as well and we knew the game could go to extra time and we had to manage that. He looked OK."
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