Mikel Arteta confirms ‘serious’ Arsenal injury as TWO stars sidelined in session from hell

Two Arsenal stars suffered injuries in an ill-fated warm-down session on Saturday, and Mikel Arteta has confirmed one of the issues “looks a little bit more serious.”

Arsenal’s strength in depth is the envy of all their Premier League rivals right now, and especially so in defence and midfield.

The Gunners will rely heavily on their quality fringe options as the season rolls on and their quest for a quintuple shifts into top gear.

However, Arsenal’s depth will be tested over the coming days and weeks after news broke on Saturday of Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi sustaining injuries AFTER the Leeds United game finished.

As is customary at many clubs, a post-match warm-down session took place for the Arsenal players who only made cameos off the bench, or remained unused substitutes.

Hincapie and Zubimendi were among those put through their paces, though both ultimately picked up injuries. Hincapie’s issue is with his ankle, though Zubimendi’s problem isn’t yet clear.

Hincapie and Zubimendi were both absent from training ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Lille on Tuesday night.

And speaking in a press conference on Monday, Arteta shed light on the situations of both players.

Mikel Arteta on Piero Hincapie, Martin Zubimendi injuries

The Gunners boss said: “Well it happened. We had a training session planned after the game for the players that didn’t have enough minutes to get everybody the recovery day on Sunday, and to get everybody in the right rhythm.

“In two very unfortunate actions, we lost two players, and yeah, not great. We need to assess them today. They have further scans to see where they are and they will have that time frame, how long they’re going to be out for.”

Arteta was then asked how such instances and injuries could be avoided in the future, th0ugh his response suggested nothing different could have been done, and that nothing different will be done in the future.

“Very easy; don’t train,” he replied. “Never train, and they don’t get injured. That’s why the consequence to that is when they have to play, they have no rhythm, and when you ask them to play, they’re going to have no impact in the game.

“It never happened in seven years that I’ve been here. But what can you do? If I knew I had a crystal ball, I’d say, guys, go in the jacuzzi, everybody, and see you tomorrow.

“The temptation is that we don’t take that risk, and we’ll do something else, but we were going to do that anyway the next day.

“When you play these kind of small-sided games, there is contact, and these things happen. They didn’t happen once last season, and we did it 37 times I think it is.

“If we had to do this again, the way we planned the seven days that we had in that period with the players that didn’t have enough load, would it have been the case? The answer is yes, and it’s a sport of contact, and this can happen.”

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Hincapie’s injury more serious of the two

Arteta then provided a third update on the pair, revealing Hincapie’s injury is the more “serious” of the two.

The Spaniard concluded: “They’re both going to miss tomorrow’s match (vs Lille), that’s for sure, and today they’re going to have a further scan and probably tomorrow we’ll know more.

“Then we’ll see how they’re going to go. Piero’s one looks a little bit more serious I think, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Hincapie has generally played as a left-back since joining Arsenal, though his absence might not be felt too badly if Riccardo Calafiori stays fit.

If the Italian requires rest or rotation, Myles Lewis-Skelly can drop back into the left-back role, while Jurrien Timber is comfortable in both full-back positions.

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