Mikel Arteta’s injury has been described as a ‘light grade one’ muscular strain, meaning he should return to action at the beginning of February and will not be sidelined for as long as some feared.
The Spaniard pulled up in training with a calf strain on Friday, meaning he had to miss Sunday’s vital clash with Manchester City. Arteta has been a vital cog in Arsenal’s midfield since his 2011 summer arrival from Everton, and was sorely missed on the weekend.
Laurent Koscielny will too sit out Wednesday’s FA Cup fixture against Swansea as he serves a one match ban for his red card, while Tomas Rosicky will miss the match to injury.
The Czech was excluded from the squad to face City at the weekend because of his calf injury, which is deemed minor, but it is a big blow to not be able to call on his services against the Swans and rest Cazorla.
Arsene Wenger revealed the following team news :
[on the FA Cup replay] We have Koscielny suspended for tomorrow night and everybody else will be available. He will be replaced in the squad by Arshavin.
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[on Mikel Arteta] Arteta’s injury could be shorter than three weeks because it’s a minor calf strain. It’s a light grade one so it could be quicker than three weeks.
[on Tomas Rosicky] Rosicky is still out. He has a little calf problem. I wanted to involve him tomorrow night but it’s too short.
[on Lukasz Fabianski] He’s the only one injured, along with Arteta now. He’s one more week away from full training I think.
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