It's not just the Premier League that is on a temporary break with the World Cup taking place and that's had an effect on several members of the Arsenal loan army this weekend.
Once again, there were no domestic fixtures for Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ryan Alebiosu, Mika Biereth, Runar Alex Runarsson, Nuno Tavares or Omar Rekik. The same applies to Nicolas Pepe who has been named in the Nice squad for their upcoming training camp in Spain, whilst the idea of Folarin Balogun being recalled to cover for the injured Gabriel Jesus has been discussed.
The good news is that central defender Pablo Mari - on loan at Serie A side Monza - is making great progress after being discharged from the hospital following surgery to reconstruct damaged back muscles after being injured in a supermarket stabbing in Milan in October.
READ MORE: Three players Arsenal could target to replace injured Gabriel Jesus in January transfer window
Spotted working on a treadmill and doing lower body exercises, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, as per Football Italia, the 29-year-old is recovering quicker than expected and could even be available for selection come mid-January.
Alex Kirk and Tyreece John-Jules are facing up to three months on the sidelines with ankle and hamstring injuries respectively, and have returned to Arsenal for treatment over the past week, but are expected to return to Ayr United and Ipswich Town once they are fully fit in the new year.
As a full program in the Championship doesn't resume until this weekend, Auston Trusty, Salah-Eddine, Harry Clarke and Brooke Norton-Cuffy weren't in action, but in League Two Mazeed Ogungbo earned a recall to the Crawley Town matchday squad for Matthew Etherington's first game in charge - a 2-0 win over Swindon Town.
A fixture postponement meant there was no game for Bromley's Tom Smith, Nikolaj Moller didn't feature for Den Bosch with no games in the Ereste Divsie taking place and Marcelo Flores will hope to feature for Real Oviedo against Las Palmas on Tuesday after being left on the bench for last Wednesday's 1-0 win over Tenerife.
Now, there were as many as five Arsenal loanees in action over the weekend. Charlie Patino was in the Blackpool side that drew 0-0 against St Mirren in a friendly at Bloomfield Road, Miguel Azeez started Ibiza FC's 2-1 loss at Zaragoza and there was disappointment for Arthur Okonkwo as Crewe Alexandra lost 3-0 at home to Newport County.
After last weekend's shock win over League Two outfit AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup second round, it was a case of being brought back down to earth for Chesterfield and Tim Akinola as they were beaten 1-0 by Halifax Town and young goalkeeper Ovie Ejeheri kept a clean sheet as Chelmsford City beat Dartford by a goal-to-nil.
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