Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny withdrew from the starting line up against Blackpool on Saturday with a back injury, but manager Unai Emery says he should be fit for Saturday’s trip to West Ham.

The 33-year-old was replaced in the team by Carl Jenkinson prior to kickoff but when asked about the defender after the 3-0 win, Emery said:

“It’s a small injury and he said he cannot play but we have one week to rest and I think he will be OK.”

The Gunners have a number of players in the same boat as Koscielny. Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring), Mesut Ozil (knee), Nacho Monreal (hamstring) and Hector Bellerin (calf) all have niggling injuries that have kept them out of matches in recent weeks.

One or more could return to face the Hammers at the weekend. The rest of the injuries are long term. Rob Holding (knee) and Danny Welbeck (ankle) are out for the season, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan is expected to return from a broken foot in February.

Konstantinos Mavropanos is back in training but wasn’t sufficiently fit to play any part in the victory against the Tangerines. However, Emile Smith Rowe did return to the bench for the game after being sidelined for a few weeks with a hip problem.