Thomas Partey missed Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon, and in truth, it remains to be seen if he will play any part in the top-four run-in.
The midfielder limped off against Crystal Palace on Monday night with a thigh problem and as reported by football.london and later confirmed by Gunners manager Mikel Arteta, it is similar to the one he picked up in last season's North London Derby defeat to Tottenham Hotspur which sidelined him for six weeks.
If history is to repeat itself then Partey will be facing a race against the clock to be fit for Arsenal's final game of the season - at home to Everton on May 22, but it also means he would miss games against Chelsea and Manchester United later this month.
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When delivering an update on the Ghana international's fitness in his pre-Brighton press conference on Friday, Arteta revealed the midfielder will be out for weeks, but couldn't confirm if he would be able to call upon the Gunners no.5 again this season.
"We have to keep assessing him but he’ll be out for some weeks," the Spaniard said. "He could be (Partey) returning before the season concludes. But, it could not be the case because it’s an area where he had a previous injury as well and he felt it straight away. He’s not fit."
In Partey's absence against the Seagulls, Arteta turned to Albert Sambi Lokonga to anchor the Arsenal midfield alongside Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe with Granit Xhaka - somewhat surprisingly - vacating the middle of the park to cover for the injured Kieran Tierney at left-back.
Although the decision to hand Lokonga a first Premier League start since January ultimately backfired with his performance being described as not good enough to replace Partey at the base of the midfield. 'His passing, while forward for the most part, was often inaccurate and the Gunners struggled to create through the middle as a result.'
Interestingly, Partey did have a close-up view of how his teammates were coping without him as, despite the injury setback, he was in attendance at the Emirates Stadium for the fixture. Uploading an image to his Instagram Stories, it would appear that his classy gesture made the day for two young children.
Of course, the mood may have dropped come full-time following the 2-1 loss - a result that leaves Arsenal three points behind Tottenham in the race to finish fourth. But with eight games remaining, there's still time for plenty of twists and turns as the battle for Champions League qualification heats up.
