Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed Thomas Partey has suffered a "significant" injury setback just days after delivering bad news about Kieran Tierney.
Tierney missed Monday's defeat at Crystal Palace with a knee issue, and Arteta said at the time he was "not positive" about the Scot playing a part during the run-in. The manager also spoke of a "big concern" over Ghana midfielder Partey, who left the field with 16 minutes remaining, and these fears appear to be well-founded.
Arteta delivered a rather cryptic assessment of Partey's issue as the Gunners prepare to host Brighton in the Premier League. Still, it's not good news ahead of a big few weeks for the London club.
"It is a little bit ambiguous but he has a significant injury," Arteta told the media. "We have to keep assessing him but he’ll be out for some weeks."
Albert Sambi Lokonga was the man to replace Partey at Selhurst Park, and the Belgian could be involved again on Saturday, Lokonga last started a game for the club in January, and Arteta addressed the recent lack of minutes.
"He played quite a lot in the first part of the season but when you have no European football it’s more difficult to share the minutes," the manager said. "[it's a ] great opportunity to show what they can do"
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Arsenal enter this weekend's fixtures in fifth place, behind neighbours Tottenham on goal difference after Antonio Conte's men put five goals past Newcastle on Sunday. Arteta's side have a game in hand on Spurs, but the teams still have to meet at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in May.
After the Brighton game and a trip to the south coast to face Southampton, the Gunners have three successive games against teams currently in the top seven. They're due to play away derbies against Chelsea and West Ham, with a home clash against Manchester United sandwiched in between.
Partey has shown impressive form this season at club level despite some injury worries, while also helping his country qualify for the World Cup. It was his goal that gave Ghana an away goals victory in their two-legged play-off against Nigeria, setting up a group stage reunion with Uruguay after the infamous meeting between the countries in 2010.
In addition to the absences of Tierney and Partey, Arsenal are due to be without Takehiro Tomiyasu on Saturday as the right-back continues his own recovery from injury. The Japan international has been missing with a calf problem and hasn't featured since the semi-final of the Carabao Cup back in January.
“Takehiro is making progress in his recovery from a muscle injury," Arteta said on Tuesday. It is hoped [that he] will be back in full training after the match at Southampton.”
