Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is unsure if William Saliba will play again this season.
The French defender has been struggling with a back injury since the middle of last month and is definitely out of Friday night’s home game against Southampton.
Saliba is also a major doubt for next Wednesday’s crucial title decider against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
The centre-back is not recovering from the injury sustained in the Europa League last-16 defeat by Sporting Lisbon as quickly as Arsenal hoped and now faces a fight to play a part during the final seven games of the campaign.
The Gunners are currently four points clear of defending champions City at the top of the Premier League table, although Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand.
“Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more,” Arteta told reporters at his pre-Southampton press conference on Thursday. “He is not progressing as quick as we hoped.
“It’s a bit delicate and we want to be very certain when we push him that he is ready to absorb the load and the risk that we will take, and at the moment that’s not possible to do.”
Asked directly if he was concerned that Saliba may not play again this season, Arteta said: “I don’t know, it’s a bit early to do [predictions]. Probably next week we are going to have more certainty.
“There is some evolution, he is doing more activity, but he is not there yet to start to throw him on the pitch at the level that the sessions demand to compete in this League.”
Arsenal are more hopeful over the fitness of Oleksandr Zinchenko, who missed last Sunday’s draw at West Ham due to a groin injury, as he returned to training this week.
However, Arteta urged further caution with the Ukraine international and admitted that his return against Southampton was not guaranteed at this stage.
"We will see with that one as well,” he said. “It’s not certain. It’s a muscular injury and it needs some time to heal, and we are not there yet."
Arsenal are looking to bounce back against Southampton after throwing away two-goal leads in each their last two matches against Liverpool and West Ham to draw.
The result at the London Stadium was particularly painful, with Bukayo Saka missing a penalty in the second half that would have put Arsenal 3-1 up shortly before West Ham’s equaliser.
