Mikel Arteta has emulated Antonio Conte's coy press conference by delivering a cryptic update of his own on Arsenal's injured players ahead of this weekend's clash with Tottenham.
The Gunners head into this weekend's north London derby at the top of the Premier League table and will be out for revenge against Spurs, who pipped their bitter rivals to a top-four place last term.
But a number of fitness worries have emerged for Arsenal in recent weeks. Oleksandr Zinchenko has been working on his fitness at the club's London Colney base and did not join up with the Ukraine national team after missing the 3-0 win over Brentford prior to the international break, while Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney both picked up issues during their time away with Ghana and Scotland respectively.
All three were rated as doubtful for Saturday's match at the Emirates Stadium - but Arteta, like his Tottenham counterpart Conte, kept his cards close to his chest in regards to the trio during his pre-match press conference.
When he was asked if Partey, Tierney and Zinchenko would be in Arsenal's matchday squad, Arteta simply replied: "They are part of the team."
Tierney was forced off in Scotland's recent win over Republic of Ireland and returned to the club due to concussion protocols. And Arteta praised the communication between the club and Scotland following the left-back's setback.
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The Spaniard added: "I think what we all want is the best for the player. Protect the welfare of the player for sure, have the player in the right mindset and ready physically to play for their country and for their club. The best way to do this is if we have a good communication that is honest and transparent. With Scotland, that is the case, for sure."
Arteta's cool response was similar to Conte's own remarks in his pre-match press conference. When he was asked for an update on some of Tottenham's key players, Conte responded: "Honestly I don't want to speak about the injury because I don't want to give advantage to Arsenal, yeah?
"But for sure we have to face some problems, some physical problems and we have to know also that we have just started to play the first game in a run that we have to play 13 days in 43 days.
"For sure we have to try to make the best solution and to try not to take big risks because if we take big risks and lose players for the rest of the games, it will be a disaster. I repeat to play every three days I need to count on the whole squad and we try with the players to also make the best decision."
