Since Mikel Arteta's back injury rehabilitation is taking longer than expected, William Saliba is expected to miss the Gunners' match against Southampton on Friday night.
After being substituted in our Europa League encounter against Sporting CP, the Frenchman has been out for the last month and has missed our previous four games. Arteta has already ruled out the idea that William may be able to speed up his recuperation this week, despite his early optimism.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, he said: “The picture hasn’t changed from last week. Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more.
“He’s not progressing as quickly as we hoped and it is a bit delicate so we want to be certain that when we push him, he’s ready to absorb the load and the risk that we’ll take, and that’s not possible at the moment.”
Whether William will be available for Arsenal's final seven games of the campaign, Mikel added: “I don’t know, it’s a bit early to know. Probably next week we’ll have more certainty.
“There is some evolution, he’s doing more activity but is not there yet to start to throw him into the pitch at the level the sessions demand to compete in this league.”
Mikel acknowledges that he is unsure if Oleksandr Zinchenko will be available for the Saints' visit after the Ukrainian defender missed last weekend's draw against West Ham United due to a groin injury.
Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney may be in position to start again if both Saliba and Zinchenko are unable to play. Arteta was quick to commend the pair for their professionalism in waiting for chances during the year.
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