Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted that he is unsure whether or not Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes will be fit to face Newcastle United on Monday evening.
The Gunners endured a torrid Thursday, losing 3-0 to local rivals Tottenham Hotspur whilst Rob Holding received a first-half red card and Gabriel picked up an injury in the dying embers of the game. England international White is also a doubt for the match, failing to play a single minute since last month's 3-1 win against Manchester United.
Now, the north Londoners are just one point ahead of Antonio Conte 's Spurs and they travel to the northeast on Monday to take on Newcastle, who have won six of their last seven home fixtures, with Arteta delivering updates on the fitness situation of his two main centre-backs. "It's a good question", he told the club's official website when asked about the availability of the two centre-halves.
Read more: Every word Mikel Arteta said on Arsenal's defensive injuries, Antonio Conte and Newcastle clash
"We will know probably more tomorrow (Sunday), so we wanted to extend this period as much as possible to understand how they are recovering, how they are feeling, assess them and tomorrow probably we will know more about how they are." The Spaniard was also asked how he could adjust his setup given his side's ongoing injury woes, to which he replied: "We will have to modify certain positions to try to make it work, because we don't have more defenders and even though we have academy players, they haven't experienced a lot of those positions because they're not specified central defenders, so it's something that we will try to find a way."
"I could (give you an estimate), but I will probably be telling you whatever," Arteta added when quizzed on the likelihood of White and Gabriel being available to play. "Tomorrow will be the day we will have better answers, probably not the answers that we want until matchday, but hopefully better answers."
