Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is "pretty positive" that Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli will be available for Saturday's Premier League London derby with Brentford at the Emirates.
Both wingers failed to complete the full 90 in Monday's 6-0 demolition job of Sheffield United, where Saka registered two assists in the first half before succumbing to sickness.
Meanwhile, Martinelli - who netted the Gunners' third goal at Bramall Lane - sustained a cut to his foot in the second half, and the Brazilian could not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off by the medical team.
Arteta played down the severity of their concerns after the game, though, and speaking to the media in Thursday's press conference, the Gunners boss expressed optimism over their respective fitness levels for Saturday.
"We got some players back last Monday, and then we had Martinelli and Bukayo with little issues, but we are pretty positive that hopefully they can be part of that. We'll have to wait and see how they are tomorrow," arsenal.com quotes Arteta as saying.
The six-goal slaughter of Sheffield United also saw Thomas Partey make his long-awaited return after nearly five whole months out with a thigh injury, but Jurrien Timber (ACL), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knock) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) all missed out.
Timber is gradually progressing with his recovery but is still some weeks away from first-team consideration, while there was no update on Zinchenko or Tomiyasu, although neither full-back should be sidelined for much longer.
Should Zinchenko and Tomiyasu make full recoveries in time for Saturday, Timber would be one of only two absentees for the Gunners, who will be without first-choice goalkeeper and Brentford loanee David Raya this weekend.
As a result, Aaron Ramsdale will make just his sixth Premier League appearance of the campaign and his first since the reverse fixture against Brentford, where he kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win despite a couple of howlers.
Following talk of a possible January exit, which failed to materialise, and Ramsdale's father claiming that his son has "lost his smile" in North London, Arteta hailed the Englishman's "brilliant" attitude as he waits patiently for his next top-flight opportunity.
"It is what it is, he is fully prepared, he trains really well every day. He is desperate to play like the rest of the boys who haven't had that many opportunities and Saturday is a great day for him," the Spaniard added.
"He's been brilliant, he's been really good, really supportive, really pushing everything in training like I expected and it's a joy to have two top goalkeepers in the team.
"One of the toughest things to deal with is for players who don't have the amount of time that they deserve. Not only Aaron, but with many of those, but we have an unbelievable group of players.
"We try to be straight and explain things and be close to them and give them the support that we want and then, when they have the opportunity, at the end they want to contribute to the team the best possible way and that's what Aaron will try to do on Saturday."
Victory for Arsenal against Brentford will see them rise above Manchester City and Liverpool into first place in the Premier League table before the current top two lock horns in Sunday's mouthwatering Anfield battle, where a draw would keep the Gunners at the summit owing to their superior goal difference. body check tags ::
