Mikel Arteta has delivered the latest Arsenal injury news ahead of the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace.
Prior to the Spaniard speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference at London Colney on Thursday afternoon it was reported that he would be without the services of attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe for the big game at Selhurst Park because of a groin problem.
Furthermore, with Kieran Tierney only playing 30 minutes of Arsenal's pre-season and Takehiro Tomiyasu as well as summer signing Fabio Vieira not featuring at all despite being named in the USA tour squad, the trio have been considered doubtful for Friday's London derby under the lights.
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Without confirming the blow for Smith Rowe, Arteta did hint at the aforementioned trio being available for selection provided they come through a training session unscathed: "Three out of four are gonna be training this afternoon if everything goes well hopefully they are going to be in the squad," the Gunners boss revealed.
"Hopefully we are going to start to recover because they missed a lot of minutes and time in pre-season and they are really important players for us."
With regards to Tierney and Tomiyasu, the Spaniard is keen to avoid more injury setbacks given what happened during the second half of last season, but revealed the pair are keen to play their part in the 2022/23 campaign.
"Hopefully no and the reason they have those injuries are for different reasons and probably because the squad didn’t enable them to fully recover," he added. "What I can tell you is that those two players are so willing to contribute to the team."
As for Fabio Vieira, it has been somewhat of a frustrating settling in period for the playmaker following his move from Porto as he's not yet been able to show Arsenal supporters what he is capable of. However, with one training session to go to prove his fitness, he is one step closer to making his debut.
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