Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that Raheem Sterling should return from injury quicker than expected, but Bukayo Saka has undergone surgery on his hamstring problem.
The Gunners had already been warned to cope without Saka for the long-term after the 23-year-old tore a muscle in last weekend's 5-1 thumping of Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta admitted in his press conference earlier this week that Saka would be sidelined for "many weeks" with the issue, while reports suggested he could be missing until March.
Despite the initial expectation that the England winger would not have to go under the knife, Arteta revealed on Friday evening that he had undergone an operation and should not be back until late February at the earliest.
"He had a procedure, everything went well, but unfortunately he'll be out for many many weeks," Arteta said after the Gunners' 1-0 win over Ipswich Town. "I think it will be more than two months, it will depend on how the scar tissue starts to heal. Very difficult to say."
Saka undergoes surgery but Sterling boost revealed
Before the trip to Selhurst Park last weekend, Arsenal had already lost Chelsea loanee Sterling to a knee injury of unspecified severity, further diminishing their attacking resources at a crucial time.
With all of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli starting on Friday night, Ethan Nwaneri was the only attack-minded player on the Arsenal bench against the Tractor Boys.
The Gunners' offensive shortages have led to pleas from fans to reinforce the squad in the January transfer window, but when asked by Amazon Prime about his side's plans for next month, Arteta was typically tight-lipped and also delivered good news on Sterling.
"We will see. Hopefully we won't have anymore injuries," Arteta replied. "Raheem [Sterling] will have less time out than expected so that's good news. We'll focus on the players we already have – they are very good."
Trossard and Havertz combined for the game's only goal on Friday evening, as the German got on the end of the Belgian's cross to take Arsenal back into second in the Premier League table above London rivals Chelsea.
Arteta 'not frustrated' with one-goal Ipswich win
The contest initially had an Arsenal vs. Everton feel to it, as Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna switched to a 5-4-1 setup in the hope of nullifying the Gunners' attackers, just as Sean Dyche's team did at the Emirates two weeks ago.
That plan was in tatters when Havertz clinically dispatched the opening goal with a quarter of the game gone, but Arsenal squandered a couple of chances to add to their lead in the second half and also had to weather a brief Ipswich storm.
However, Arteta affirmed that he could never be 'frustrated' with all three points, but he accepted that there were some improvements that could have been made to extinguish Ipswich's flicker of hope.
"Frustration when you win? No. Things to improve? Yes," the Spaniard added. "We gave some silly balls away so they could generate some momentum and win set pieces without really creating nothing. The game was going in our direction as we had two big chances in the second half."
Arsenal remain six points behind league leaders Liverpool having played a game more than the Reds, and the Gunners are back in action away to London rivals Brentford on New Year's Day. body check tags ::
