Thomas Partey hasn’t played since October (Photo: Getty)
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Thomas Partey should be in contention to play for the first time in nearly five months when Arsenal take on Sheffield United.
Arsenal travel to Bramall Lane on Monday night for what should be a routine win against the side currently bottom of the Premier League.
Partey has not played since coming off the bench in the win over Manchester City in October thanks to a hamstring injury.
The defensive midfielder has faced numerous setbacks since then which also forced the Ghana international to miss the Africa Cup of Nations at the start of the year.
But Arteta finally had some good news to share on the 30-year-old in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
‘Yeah Thomas had a session before the last game and now he’s done two or three consecutive sessions so he should be part of the squad on Monday,’ the manager said.
In fact, Arsenal could have nearly all their players available for the trip to Sheffield, with Arteta revealing that Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko were close to a comeback.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has missed the last few games with a calf injury (Photo: Getty)
Additionally, Gabriel Jesus could start after returning to the bench last time out against Newcastle after recovering from a knee problem.
‘Those ones it’s possible but we’ll have to wait and see. If that’s the case they might be available on Monday,’ Arteta said of the two defenders.
‘He [Jesus] is fit enough. How long he will last that’s very different.
Jurrien Timber is close to recovering from the ACL injury that has ruled out him out all season (Photo: Getty)
‘We didn’t want to take any risks. We need him fit and now we want to make sure we load him in the right way.’
This means the only player definitely ruled out is long-term absentee Jurrien Timber, who suffered an ACL injury on the first day of the Premier League season.
‘Jurrien is still not close enough to be part of the squad on Monday,’ Arteta added.
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‘Absolutely [impressed with Timber’s recovery]. It’s been a joy. The physios and medical staff have been impressed with his attitude.
‘Now we have to manage because it’s the last stage of that difficult injury but I think he’s in the right way.’
Arsenal can go top of the league with a win over the Blades, but only if Liverpool and Manchester City drop points when they play Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.
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