Mikel Arteta provides injury updates on three key Arsenal stars

Mikel Arteta provided mixed news on the injury front ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League match against Crystal Palace on Monday.

The Gunners are again likely to be without goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale who picked up a hip injury prior to the victory over Aston Villa before the international break.

Bukayo Saka, however, has recovered from the bout of Covid which forced him to pull out of the England squad, while Arteta remains hopeful Takehiro Tomiyasu will have recovered from the calf injury which has forced him to miss the last eight matches.

‘I think he will be close,’ said Arteta when asked if the Japan international was likely to feature at Selhurst Park.

‘He’s been training more and more. He will be joining some sessions this week so let’s see how it is

‘He had a recurring injury but in the other calf which was strange and difficult to predict. He’s been through a lot in the last two years with the amount of games he’s played and COVID.

‘Hopefully we can find the reason so it doesn’t happen again.’

‘Bukayo is feeling good,’ Arteta added when asked if Arsenal’s joint top goalscorer this season would be back in contention.

‘He’s training today hopefully and Aaron it’s a doubt. He hasn’t trained yet so we don’t know what he’ll be able to do on Monday.’

More to follow…