Mikel Arteta has admitted frustration after Piero Hincapié and Martín Zubimendi sustained ankle injuries during the warm-down after Arsenal’s win against Leeds on Saturday.
Both are due to have scans on Monday to determine the extent of the damage, although Arteta said they would miss the Champions League game at home to Lille on Tuesday and that Hincapié’s injury “looks a little bit more serious”.
“We had a training session planned after the game for the players,” the manager said. “They didn’t have enough minutes to get everybody in the right rhythm and in two very unfortunate actions, we lost two players.”
Arteta described it as “far from ideal” but dismissed suggestions he would change the post-match routine. “When they have to play, they have no rhythm, and when you ask them to play, they’re going to have no impact in the game,” he said. “That could happen at the Emirates; it never happened in the seven years I was here. It could happen the next day in the training session, and that has happened before, and hopefully it happens now and doesn’t happen again. What can you do? If I knew I had a crystal ball clear, I’d say: ‘Guys, go in the Jacuzzi, everybody, I’ll see you tomorrow.’”
Hincapié and Zubimendi were expected to feature against Lille having not started in the Premier League this season. Arteta seemed disappointed with Illan Meslier and his staff after the reserve goalkeeper gave Hincapié a piggyback off the pitch rather than waiting for a stretcher.
“That’s something else not to discuss here,” he said. “Today they’re going to have a further scan and probably tomorrow we’ll know more and then we’ll see how they’re going to go. Piero’s one looks a little bit more serious, I think, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
There was better news for Arsenal as William Saliba has resumed training on his own as he recovers from a back injury sustained at the World Cup. Arteta would not be drawn on when the France defender could be back and is determined not to rush his recovery. “We’re still talking about weeks,” he said.
Gabriel Magalhães is likely to be partnered by Ezri Konsa again against the Brazil defender’s former club on Tuesday. Gabriel insisted he would not hesitate to take another penalty in a shootout despite missing the crucial spot-kick in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain. “I was sad, and I didn’t want to miss a penalty, but I have learned from this and if I have another opportunity, I will be ready to take it,” he said.
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Arteta has challenged Bukayo Saka to score more goals after the forward found the net five times in his past four England appearances and revealed that they had been working on rotating him into more central areas to finish moves.
“He has been getting in great positions, getting shots, getting one-touch finishes and tap-ins,” he said. “That is the kind of unpredictability we have with that player, otherwise we know how the opponent is going to defend him. He is doing well. He could have had another four or five goals by now, easily. But if he continues like that, we know. When he talks about scoring a certain amount of goals, he … He needs to be thinking about scoring a certain amount of goals per game. If that shifts, that mentality, he will get into those positions and score more goals.”
