Mikel Arteta gives Arsenal injury update and reveals why star missed Ipswich win

· Mirror

Arsenal took on Premier League rivals Ipswich in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening but Mikel Arteta was without Jurrien Timber for the clash and he could be one to keep an eye on ahead of the weekend

Mikel Arteta has assured that Jurrien Timber has not picked up a fresh injury following his absence against Ipswich. The Gunners took on their Premier League rivals in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening.

Arteta’s side eventually booked their spot in the next round with a 4-2 success, Max Dowman getting on the scoresheet twice, while Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino also found the net.

One man that Arsenal were forced to do without was Dutch defender Timber, who was missing from the squad. Having been out for months with a groin issue, Arteta has revealed that he was simply given a rest as opposed to being out with a fresh problem.

Speaking after the game, the Arsenal boss said: “No, everything is fine. He has played much more than we wanted. The other day he had 53 minutes after five months out. We need to look after him.”

On Arsenal’s performance in general, Arteta added: “I'm really pleased with a lot of things that we've done tonight – the way we attacked the game, how dominant, fluent and aggressive we were right from the beginning to try to influence the results.

“We scored two very early goals that gave us a great platform for the game, and individually some big performances as well. Some debuts tonight, which is great to see as well. So, we take a lot of positives from the night.”

Despite Timber being out, one man that Arteta did call upon was World Cup winner Mikel Merino, who was handed his first start of the season. And the Arsenal head coach was left hugely impressed with his display.

He said: “He’s unbelievable. First of all, he's one of the most intelligent players that I've seen and I've worked with. Then the personality is just full of... I don't know, he just wants to give for everybody.

“He thinks about everything, he thinks about everybody. And on top of that, he has qualities that are unique in football and in our team, his capacity to arrive in the box, he's capable of occupying different places, to play in different positions, to link play with people.

“And as a midfielder, the ability that he has to score goals like tonight is a different one that we've seen lately, but another incredible one.”

Arteta will certainly hope to have both Merino and Timber’s services to call upon throughout the rest of the week. The Gunners take on Brighton away from home as they aim to keep up their perfect Premier League start.

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