Ghana boss Chris Hughton has explained why Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey didn't feature against Angola on Monday evening.
"Thomas has some small issues, a small injury issue and we felt it was too big of a risk to start him," Hughton said when asked why Partey was on the bench for the AFCON qualifier. The 29-year-old has suffered from numerous injuries since joining the Gunners back in October 2020.
In those two-and-a-half years, he has missed a total of 33 matches through injury, a huge frustration to manager Mikel Arteta considering Partey's importance to the Spaniard's system. It is currently unclear if the former Atletico Madrid man will miss Saturday's Premier League fixture against Leeds United, with William Saliba also a doubt following a lower back issue he picked up earlier this month.
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“You don’t want to lose someone like Thomas Partey for any amount of time", Arsenal icon Ian Wright said on The Kelly & Wrighty Show. "We lost William Saliba. But they seem to have taken the hits up until this point.
“That’s one thing people criticised Arsenal for and said, ‘let’s see when you get injuries to your key players’ – we’ve had injuries to all of our main players, and still amongst it. It’s now how they finish off with the pressure that is going to ramp up for these last games with the injuries that may come.
"[Arsenal] believe they can do it because they’ve got to a point where nobody thought they would get to. They still look like they can do it. They are beating teams at home very comfortably. That’s all you can do."
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