Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber were all absent from Arsenal’s open training session ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, arseblog reports.
With the tie finely poised after last week’s 1-1 draw, Mikel Arteta had been hopeful of welcoming Odegaard and Havertz back into the squad.
The captain was forced off after an hour in Madrid as his ongoing knee issue flared up, while Havertz pulled up in the 1-0 win over Newcastle with a muscular problem.
The manager said before and after Saturday’s win against Fulham that the pair are pushing hard to be involved, but it looks like any decision will be taken late in the day.
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Timber remains sidelined with an ankle injury and has not featured since the League Cup final on 22 March. Last week, Arteta said the Dutchman was “doing some stuff on the pitch at the moment, but we need to get the gears up and be able to do more things before he can compete with us.”
In truth, that update offered little encouragement. Mikel Merino is also facing a race against time to feature in the final month of the season, with the Spaniard continuing his recovery after surgery on a fractured foot sustained in January.
