Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will not rush Takehiro Tomiyasu back amid fears he could be plagued by a recurring calf injury.
Tomiyasu was struggling with a calf problem back in January, but he managed to play in the second leg of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup semi-final with Liverpool.
Since then, though, the Japan international has been absent and he will miss Sunday’s clash with Leicester too.
Arteta is unsure when Tomiyasu will return and he is reluctant to rush him back in case he breakdowns.
“He needs to be consistently training for a period [so] that we can minimise the risk of having another recurring injury in the same muscle because it would be something to worry about and we have to stay away from that,” said Arteta.
“He had a calf injury and after that he had a really quick recovery, we play him, maybe too quick I don’t know.
“He had a recurring injury there and then he felt it again one day when he was back in training with us so yes, disappointment because he has been really important.
“He played a lot of minutes, he played quality minutes and had a good contribution in the team and unfortunately now we cannot use him.
“It’s good to have someone like Cedric that when we had to use him he was ready because he is a great professional and he is performing well for the team.”
