Mikel Arteta has provided a positive injury update on Arsenal trio Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber.
Neither Saka nor Odegaard trained on Thursday, having both missed the Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win over Chelsea in midweek.
Saka picked up a muscle issue, believed to be around his hip area, in the warm-up ahead of Arsenal's 4-0 victory at Leeds last weekend.
Mikel Arteta described that as a "little niggle" at the time and it is not believed to be a serious issue, but he appears set to be absent again on Saturday when the Gunners host Sunderland in the Premier League.
Captain Odegaard, meanwhile, came off the bench at Leeds in an impressive cameo but was then ruled out against Chelsea with a minor injury suffered in training.
Asked for an update on the pair at his pre-Sunderland press conference on Friday, Arteta said: “His [Saka’s] hip is getting much better. Hopefully very soon he will be with us.”
Pressed on when Saka return, Arteta replied: “Very soon, very soon.”
On Odegaard, the Arsenal boss added: “Martin again is getting better. It will be a matter of days, we believe.”
Right-back Timber also missed Arsenal training on Thursday, but the Dutchman will be fit to face Sunderland. “Jurrien is fine,” Arteta said.
However, teenage midfielder Max Dowman remains a little while away from returning from ankle ligament damage suffered while playing in an Under-21s friendly against Manchester United back in December.
“Max hasn't trained with us so it will still be a few weeks I think,” Arteta said. “But he's getting better.”
