Mikel Arteta says defender Christhian Mosquera is set to miss several weeks through injury in another blow for Arsenal.
The Gunners were without Gabriel, William Saliba and Mosquera for the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, with Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber instead starting in central defence.
And providing an update on Mosquera after Emi Buendia’s late winner saw Villa move three points behind the Gunners, Arteta said: “He is going to be out for weeks, unfortunately. It’s much more than what we expected.”
Gabriel is still set to be out for several weeks with the adductor injury he suffered while playing for Brazil, though Saliba is closer to returning with Arteta saying on Friday that he is “a matter of days” away from coming back.
“It is what it is,” Arteta said on Arsenal’s defensive injuries.
“I think we’re going to have to cope with that. We’re going to have to cope with that for a period of time as well, we know that, and the team has to be able to adapt. Don’t look for excuses.
“Obviously we know what those two (Gabriel and Saliba) bring, especially in games like this but the other two, I think they were exceptional as well today.”
I think Mikel Arteta still has enough arsenals on the the bench to still make our something decent He should not be sentimentally attached to certain players and detached from certain once as he did in previous seasons as in the case of Havertz before he went on injury. there are players still being underutilized in the Arsenal team.