Arsenal have been struck with another injury blow after Mikel Arteta confirmed Ben White has suffered an injury that ‘looks bad’ after being withdrawn in the first half against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Fitness issues have piled up for the Gunners in recent weeks, particularly across the backline, and White’s withdrawal compounds an already stretched injury room that includes Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera.
His reintroduction to the starting side had offered much-needed stability, even with Jurrien Timber having nailed down the right-back role earlier in the campaign.
Having been named in the starting lineup for a fourth straight fixture following an extended spell out, the 28-year-old went down in the 31st minute, grabbing his hamstring and indicating he could not continue.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent on in his place; in a contest, Arsenal eventually emerged as winners, thanks to two Wolves’ own goals.
Blow
When questioned in his post-match conference, Arteta revealed that the initial signs surrounding White’s condition were far from encouraging.
‘That is bad news, for sure,’ said Arteta.
‘It looks like a hamstring, so we don’t know the extent of that, but probably tomorrow, or the day after, we will know more.
‘He hasn’t played a lot of minutes because of the previous knee issue that he had.
‘Then the moment that he started to get some momentum, he had to play a lot because we didn’t have any other solution.
‘We had to even risk today, Willy (William Saliba), because probably it wasn’t the best call to play 90 minutes.
‘We were buying tickets for another injury, but we don’t have anybody else. But yeah, that’s Ben for sure.’
Across Premier League, Champions League and domestic cup duties, Arsenal’s backline has been stretched by an intense run of fixtures this season.
There is, however, some relief ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Everton, with Riccardo Calafiori set to return after serving his suspension during the Wolves victory.
Should White be ruled out for a period, the expectation is that Jurrien Timber will operate on the right side of defence for the clash against Everton on Saturday, 20th December, at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
