Mikel Arteta confirmed that Thomas Partey is unlikely to return from injury anytime soon after he suffered a setback in his recovery.
The Ghanaian midfielder has appeared in only five games for Arsenal this season and has not played a match since October after suffering a muscular injury. He was expected to rejoin training towards the end of January but manager Mikel Arteta has now confirmed that he will continue to remain out of action after he suffered a setback in his recovery process.
Speaking to reporters about Partey's condition, Arteta said: "With Thomas unfortunately we had a little setback a few days ago. He’s not going to be available in the squad. We’ll see if it’s a matter of days of weeks. But he had a little thing. I’m not a doctor, but he felt something in a very similar area and he wasn’t able to train the last few days.
"A big concern because he is such an important player for us. He was getting some momentum at the start of the season and then we lost him for a while. Now it has been a long time without him. He gives us something different that no other player can give us in the squad so he will be a miss."
There were doubts over Declan Rice's fitness ahead of Arsenal's clash against Nottingham Forest earlier this week, although the England international was included in the starting lineup and played for the entire 90 minutes in the club's 2-1 win.
The Gunners, who registered back-to-back wins in the Premier League last month, will now take on league leaders Liverpool in a crucial fixture on Sunday.
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