Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is hopeful that Martin Odegaard and Ben White will both be available for the Gunners' Premier League London derby with Brentford on Saturday evening.
Neither man was able to contribute to their 3-1 win over Burnley before the international break, as Odegaard sat out a third game in succession due to concussion protocol.
The Arsenal captain was initially believed to have been taking time off due to a hip problem, which saw him remain on the bench for the Gunners' 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United in October.
Odegaard made a brief return to score in a 3-1 EFL Cup fourth-round loss to West Ham United as a substitute, but Arsenal subsequently faced Sevilla, Newcastle and Burnley without the services of their skipper.
However, it then emerged that Odegaard's recent absences were down to a freak training ground accident rather than his previous hip injury, as he was placed in concussion protocol after taking a ball to the face in practice.
The 24-year-old did not join up with the Norway squad for November's international as he continued his recovery in North London, but speaking to the media in Friday's pre-game press conference, Arteta was able to share a positive update.
"Hopefully, yes. We have another training session today but he's been progressing well and hopefully he will be available," Arteta responded when asked if Odegaard was on track to be fit.
"We didn't know how many days [he'd be out for]. It depends on certain things and at the end he got more delayed than we wanted. But we have to protect the player."
Meanwhile, White was a surprise omission from the team sheet for the visit of Burnley two weekends ago, and Arteta revealed that the Englishman had sustained a few niggles after his side's win over Sevilla in the Champions League.
White's absence allowed the in-form Takehiro Tomiyasu to make another start at right-back, while on the opposite side, Oleksandr Zinchenko volleyed in a sublime third for the Gunners to rubber-stamp their win over Burnley.
Asked about White's chances of returning against the Bees, Arteta added: "Again, hopefully if he's available to train today, he will be available to play. It's a question mark to be resolved in the next few hours."
While Odegaard and White did not represent their countries this month, Gabriel Jesus - who sustained a hamstring issue against Sevilla last month - started Brazil's World Cup qualifying loss to Argentina and came through the entire match unscathed.
The former Manchester City man is in contention to make his Arsenal comeback at the Gtech Community Stadium, although all of Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes will need once-overs following their long journeys home from South America.
"He's available. He played 96 minutes in a really competitive match. We have another session. They had a long flight and I have to see the condition of every single player to make the final call on the lineup," Arteta said of Jesus.
However, all of Emile Smith Rowe, Jurrien Timber (both knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) are unavailable, while Fabio Vieira is starting a three-game domestic ban for his straight red card against Burnley.
Bees loanee David Raya cannot face his parent club either, so Aaron Ramsdale will make his first Premier League start in goal since September's 3-1 win over Manchester United.
The Gunners sit third in the table after 12 matches, but victory on Saturday would propel them to the summit of the standings if Manchester City and Liverpool's top-of-the-table lunchtime showdown ends in a draw. body check tags ::
