Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Gabriel Martinelli will undergo a scan on his ankle today to determine the seriousness of the injury.

The Brazilian was in a lot of pain after sustaining the problem in the warm-up ahead of the FA Cup tie against Newcastle last night, and Arteta says he is praying the results of the scan are good:

“We really want to know what’s going on. He’s a character and he wants to play the next game. He doesn’t care and can handle pain but I don’t know. Hopefully, there is nothing too serious but to start with, it didn’t look too good.”

Martinelli has only recently come back from a serious knee injury and another long-term absence would be a bitter pill to swallow for the teenager who has excelled since his arrival at the club eighteen months ago.

Arteta has also explained why Thomas Partey was not in the matchday squad for the 2-0 win over the Magpies. The Ghanaian had returned to training last week but the Gunners boss felt he wasn’t ready for a return to first-team action quite yet:

“We assessed the situation, how much training he’s done, the boxes that he ticked and he was still a little bit short. Hopefully we will have him in the squad on Thursday. Let’s see how he trains in the next couple of days. He’s really good at the moment.”

The manager’s comments suggest a comeback against Crystal Palace on Thursday evening is now looking likely, which will be a tremendous boost to the team.