Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided an update on no fewer than nine injury victims ahead of Sunday's Premier League encounter with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
The October international break was another cruel period for the Gunners, who saw Bukayo Saka hurt his hamstring while playing for England and fellow attacker Gabriel Martinelli damage his calf on Brazil duty.
Saka's problem was serious enough to see him pull out of the Three Lions' squad for their 3-1 UEFA Nations League win over Finland, although reports have claimed that he is optimistic of being involved this weekend.
Saka was among the players not seen in Thursday's batch of training images, but speaking to the media in Friday's pre-game press conference, Arteta cut a positive tone when asked whether he will be OK for the weekend.
"It's not a serious injury, he's evolving really well, he's done a few things in the last two days. Obviously he wasn't fit enough to play with the national team the second game. We are hopeful, we had a training session yesterday, we have another one this afternoon, let's see if he can make it on time," Arteta replied.
Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz doubtful for Bournemouth game
However, Martinelli is seemingly not in with as good a chance of starting against Bournemouth, as the Brazil winger only returned to the UK on Thursday afternoon after suffering his calf problem.
"With Gabi he landed yesterday afternoon, we had a very short time to be with him. Yesterday he went outside to do a little bit and see how he's feeling and today will be another step and understand whether we want to take the risk. I know what the player is going to say," Arteta added.
Before Saka and Martinelli sustained their problems, Germany's Kai Havertz and Thomas Partey (Ghana) pulled out of their national team camps, although Arteta quickly confirmed that the latter was fully fit and ready to go.
On Havertz's chances, the Spaniard said: "He had a few issues, we've been dealing with that, he's been absolutely brilliant, he has very good communication with the national team. We have modified everything that we could do here. If he trains well today he has a good chance to be fit and available."
Defence is where the bulk of Arsenal's issues lie, as Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White and Jurrien Timber all missed the 3-1 win over Southampton two weekends ago, and Takehiro Tomiyasu also suffered a complication of a previous knee issue in that game.
Arteta confirmed that Tomiyasu had picked up "something else" but expressed hope that it was not as severe as his first concern, while Timber, Zinchenko and White are all pushing to be available.
"They are quite close, the three of them. Today we're going to have to push and see who it is, obviously we are struggling with the numbers on our right side but hopefully we have some positive news today and we have some players back for tomorrow," Arteta said.
Arteta seemingly denies reports of Martin Odegaard setback
Finally, Arteta appeared to shoot down claims that captain Martin Odegaard had suffered a major setback in his recovery from an ankle injury, one that would sideline him until December, suggesting that next weekend's clash with Liverpool might be a realistic comeback date.
"He's not gonna be fit for this game, next week will be a different story, again in that later stage of rehab, which is where he is at the moment, he needs to clear some markers and be comfortable especially with the ball. I think next week will be crucial to understand how close he is," Arteta said of his captain.
Arsenal will leapfrog Liverpool and Manchester City into first place in the Premier League table should they get the better of Bournemouth, where Saka could set a Gunners goalscoring record if he is passed fit. body check tags ::
