Mikel Arteta says he is hopeful of having defensive trio Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko back for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Monaco.
All three missed the 1-1 Premier League draw with Fulham, as William Saliba’s equaliser secured a point for the Gunners following Raul Jimenez’s early opener.
Arsenal have been disrupted by defensive injuries this season but Arteta is hopeful he will soon have his injured defenders back.
“I hope, but it’s more a question for the doctors and physios to understand where we are,” he said.
“We are missing a lot of players in the backline. The good thing is that whatever we put there they respond. They respond with a good attitude and performance.”
Arteta fielded his ninth different back four combination against Fulham but Arteta was pleased with how his side adapted, including central defender Jakub Kiwior, though admits not having consistency in his team selection is having a negative impact.
“We know that when we have consistency there how much it’s giving us,” he said. “That’s a different season. It’s bringing different challenges. We’re trying to face them and we’re going to continue in that direction.
And asked if his team missed Gabriel in particular, he continued: “Yeah but I’m really pleased with the performance of Jakub as well. We had to change the whole unit.
“Jakub there and Jurrien on the left, they’ve never played together and Thomas as a full-back. Okay, he came in and he does it.
“Jorginho comes in and he was excellent. That’s it, they are not available. We have to respond to that and I’m very happy with the way they did it.”
