Smith Rowe was ruled out of the midweek clash at West Ham (Picture: Getty)
Emile Smith Rowe is facing another spell on the sidelines with Mikel Arteta confirming the Arsenal star will be out ‘for a few weeks’.
The England Under-21 international was handed his first start of the season against Sheffield United on Saturday, helping the Gunners cruise to a 5-0 win.
He was expected to keep his place in the side for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash against West Ham United but was ruled out ahead of kick-off.
Smith Rowe did not make the short trip over to east London with Arteta revealing he is carrying a ‘worrying’ knee injury when speaking before the game.
Arsenal crashed out of the competition after a 3-1 defeat at the London Stadium with Arteta sharing a further update on the midfielder in his post-match press conference.
‘He’s got an injury in his knee and he’s going to be out for weeks,’ Arteta said.
Smith Rowe made just three league appearances prior to his first start on Saturday, racking up a combined 32 minutes having been an unused substitute in his side’s six other games.
Arsenal crashed out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday (Picture: Getty)
The 23-year-old missed the first-half of last season after undergoing groin surgery, settling for a bench role after his return as Arsenal pushed for the Premier League title.
Arteta made six changes to his side on Wednesday with Declan Rice, William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard among those on the bench,
‘Very disappointed. I’m responsible for that,’ he said. ‘We’re out of the cup and we wanted to play a very different game.
‘Especially we wanted to compete in a very different way, the way we discussed for 48 hours, in a very different way to what we’ve done.
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‘There are no messages to send. Whatever messages we send, we send them with words. We don’t have to send them in a different way. We have tried to put a team out that we believed was the best to compete today and in the right way to start the game.
‘The game took a direction obviously because of the first goal – and we can discuss that. After that we still have to see much more from the team to earn the right to win here.
‘Every time you lose a game the pain is there. We have to use this pain for Saturday that’s for sure.’
MORE : Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reveals ‘worry’ over Emile Smith Rowe injury
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