Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has issued updates on the fitness of Reiss Nelson and Mohamed Elneny following the 1-1 draw against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday evening.
Both players were substituted at the Philips Stadion, with Elneny going off just after the hour mark, while Nelson lasted almost the full 90 minutes but, speaking about the pair after the game, Arteta said:
“It’s a shame on Mo as well because he felt something, Reiss as well.”
Both Nelson and Elneny put in good performances but you can’t help but feel that their lack of game time this season led to their injuries.
Before last night’s match, Nelson has spent just 315 minutes on the pitch, while Elneny had even less game time, having only featured in brief cameos in the Premier League and Carabao Cup.
Arsenal’s injury list is growing
There were concerns about Bukayo Saka’s fitness heading into the PSV fixture, after the winger missed training on Monday, but he was back on the substitutes bench on Tuesday.
However, Gabriel Martinelli was absent from the matchday squad due to illness, while the likes of Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), Thomas Partey (thigh), Fabio Vieira (groin) and Jurrien Timber (ACL) were already on the treatment table.
Arteta is weighing up using Rice as an emergency centre-back
Due to the absences of Tomiyasu and Timber, it means that Arsenal do lack options at centre-half, with Ben White having to cover the right-hand side of defence.
Declan Rice played the final half hour of the game against PSV at the back; a position he played when he first made his breakthrough into West Ham’s first team, and Arteta says he wanted to experiment to see if the club’s record signing could play there if required:
“We are very short at the back and I really wanted to try if something happens, how we’re going to resolve that situation. I thought he was really good. He has played there before. We have to try as if we have an emergency we have to understand and to be sure that we can fill that gap in the right way.”
