hinted he could welcome back three key players to his matchday squad for Saturday’s clash against Arsenal.
The Gunners have been in scintillating form on the domestic front since their return a warm-weather training camp in January but the limitations of their squad was exposed during Wednesday’s Champions league defeat against Porto.
Arsenal failed to register a single shot on target as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat, with Arteta failing to make a single attacking substitution during the course of a dour contest.
, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe all remained on the bench despite Arsenal struggling to create anything of note.
The absence of Gabriel Jesus hadn’t been felt against the likes of Burnley and WestHam, when Arteta’s side amassed 11 goals, but the Brazil international was certainly missed in Portugal.
Arteta, however, is hopeful that Jesus as well as Thomas Partey and Oleksandr Zinchenko are close to making their returns.
The Arsenal boss was, however, less positive when providing an update on Takehiro Tomiyasu who has failed to make an appearance since returning from international duty have represented Japan at the Asia Cup.
‘Obviously we have missed some big players and we still are,’ said Arteta at his pre-match press conference. ‘We want them back, we need them back and we need them as quick as possible.
‘We have another session today. We need to nail the timing of when (Partey) has enough in the tank to compete. He’s very close.
‘Same with Gabi. He’s done a few things. And Alex is not far too. Tomiyasu still a little bit more.’
Arteta is hopeful that his defensive options could at least be boosted by the potential return of summer signing Jurien Timber who suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury on the opening day of the season.
‘I really hope so,’ said Arteta when asked if the former Ajax star would feature again before the end of the season.
‘He’s doing really well. He’s been with some players on the pitch. He’s going to do some bits with us on the pitch in the coming week.
‘Hopefully the answer will be yes.’
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