Arteta offers Rice update and admits injury request "is never a good sign"

26 September 2023 , 15:09

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Declan Rice suffered an injury against Tottenham (Image: Getty Images)

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has issued an update on Declan Rice after he went off injured at half-time in the north London derby.

Arteta revealed after the game that Rice was taken off due to feeling "some discomfort in his back", but said he was hopeful he would not be sidelined for too long. And when asked for an update on the midfielder's fitness ahead of Arsenal's third round Carabao Cup clash against Brentford, Arteta said they were "confident" it was not a serious issue but revealed he had not been able to train since the 2-2 draw against Spurs on Sunday.

"He hasn’t trained yet," Arteta said. "Obviously he could not carry on in the game, he wasn’t comfortable at all. Hopefully it’s not something big. We are confident.

"He’s still uncomfortable, obviously he had to leave the pitch and that’s never a good sign for a player like him, but hopefully he will progress in the next few days. It’s a tough one."

Arteta was also asked about the fitness of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey. Martinelli, Trossard and Partey all missed the Tottenham game with injuries, while Saka limped off with a knock.

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And Arteta has confirmed Saka is a doubt for Arsenal's next Premier League game against Bournemouth on Saturday. "He was limping quite badly after the match," he said when asked about the winger.

"We had to get him off the field. He hasn’t been able to participate in the session. It’s a possibility (he could miss Bournemouth)." Trossard missed the derby with a hamstring issue and Arteta has now confirmed he is set for a spell on the sidelines.

Bukayo Saka limped off against Spurs (Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

"Leandro won’t be available for tomorrow," he said. "Let’s see day by day how he improves and whether he’s got a chance for the weekend or not. He did some activity and that’s where he felt it. He wasn’t comfortable to carry on the session the day before the game and he hasn’t trained yet, so not available for tomorrow."

The Spaniard also stated that the Brentford game would be too early for both Martinelli and Partey to make their returns. "It’s the situation that we have at moment," he added. We have to adapt. The squad that we have at the moment is really short and we need players back, that’s for sure."

Arteta did hint that he will look to rotate players in the Cup, stating: "Well there are a lot of players that need minutes, that’s for sure. You can go through the squad and some players haven’t played that many minutes and tomorrow they’re going to have exposure for sure."

Matthew Cooper