Arsenal appear to have suffered another injury setback with Ethan Nwaneri set for a spell on the sidelines, according to Mikel Arteta.
The Arsenal manager appeared to have stumbled upon a readymade solution to the problem caused by Bukayo Saka’s absence.
Nwaneri starred in the win at Brentford on New Year’s Day and was rewarded with another start at the Amex.
The 17-year-old rewarded his manager’s faith with his second Premier League goal of the season but he failed to emerge for the second half.
Having been booked for timewasting it was assumed that Arteta was being mindful of another potential red card but he later revealed the youngster had sustained an injury.
He said: ‘Really bad news because I think we’ve lost him, we had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues.’
Nwaneri’s absence will hurt as much as two dropped points which saw Arsenal miss the chance to put pressure on Liverpool ahead of their game with Manchester United on Sunday.
The Gunners could have moved to within three points of the leaders, albeit having played two games more, but a disjointed second half performance cost them dearly.
‘Obviously we wanted to win the game,’ said Arteta afterwards. ‘This is a tough place to come and they are a very good side. We started well, scored a beautiful goal and we were in control.
‘In the second half we didn’t really grab the game or dominate enough to have certain moments and be more of a threat in their half.
‘But defensively we did not concede much apart from the transition moment with Minteh.
‘When you are playing every three days or less than that you cannot with the amount of injuries and situations maintain the level of performance and competitiveness. Today we lacked it in the second half.
‘Today was not about fatigue. it was about the simple things that we have to do in ball possession to give chances and dominate the game in the right areas.’