Mikel Arteta provied an update on the fitness of Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori after Arsenal’s goalless draw with Nottingham Forest.
Mikel Arteta addresses Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori injury concern | Football
Arsenal knew only a win would likely keep their faint Premier League title hopes alive after their defeat to West Ham last weekend.
But the Gunners could not summon a performance to claim all three points at the City Ground as a lack of goalscoring threat came back to haunt Mikel Arteta’s side for a second game running.
And with Liverpool cruising to a 2-0 win over Newcastle, Arne Slot’s side extended their lead at the top of the table to what appears to be an insormountable 13 points.
Without several attackers due to injury, 17-year-old Nwaneri started his third successive game but was withdrawn midway through the second half.
While the substitution did not go down well with many of the travelling fans, Arteta insisted that he had no choice but to make the change as he looks to keep the teenager fit as he takes on a much greater burden.
‘He was cramping from minute 45, so we stretched him as much as we possibly could but we cannot lose the player and he was really fatigued,’ Areteta said post-match.
Calafiori, who hit the post in the first half, was also brought off at half-time but Arteta said the change was merely tactical and nothing injury-related.
‘I took him because he got a yellow in the second minute,’ the Spaniard added.
‘He had one or two situations defending Hudson-Odoi and we couldn’t not play again with 10 men.’
While Kai Havertz is expected to be out for the rest of the season, there is hope that Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka could return to give the Gunners a much-needed boost in the closing stages of the season.
But Arteta was wary when asked if the attacking duo would be ready to go after the upcoming international break.
‘I think so but again let’s see how they evolve in the next few weeks to make the right steps and then after that, they’ve been out for a long, long time, so we’re going to have to integrate them as well gradually,’ he said.
‘They are evolving well but they’re still a bit far.’
Arsenal have a welcome weekened off having been knocked out of the FA Cup but are back in action in midweek for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with PSV Eindhoven.