Mikel Arteta sweats on Thomas Partey fitness after injury

Manchester City and Arsenal were left hoping for good news regarding John Stones and Thomas Partey after the pair suffered injuries in last night’s FA Cup tie at the Etihad Stadium.

Partey, the Arsenal midfielder, had to be substituted at the start of the second half of his side’s 1-0 defeat after taking a knock to the ribs in a tackle by Ilkay Gundogan.

He informed the Arsenal physios of the problem during a break in play in the first half and was replaced by Albert Sambi Lokonga at half-time.

Arsenal, who play City in the Premier League in less than three weeks’ time, will be hoping that the injury is not serious as the only other back-up to Partey, Mohamed Elneny, could miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

“Thomas had some discomfort and it was getting worse and worse,” Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, said. “Tomorrow or the day after he will have an MRI scan and see [how bad the injury is].

“We have at the moment the injury of Mo. Sambi has come in and has done well but it is true that Thomas is a big influence and a big personality and in the second half we didn’t have him.”

Arteta’s opposite number, Pep Guardiola, was left sweating on the fitness of Stones after the England centre back went down clutching his right hamstring after challenging Leandro Trossard for the ball in the final few minutes of the first half.

Stones suffered a hamstring complaint

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

Guardiola has four other options in reserve, but none of them has been as consistent as Stones, who also missed five games near the start of the season with a different hamstring problem.

The City manager suggested that Stones should not have played because he was fatigued.

“Today he was not ready [to play],” Guardiola said. “I saw it from the first minutes and when that happens you get injured.”

Guardiola was impressed by the performance of Nathan Aké, the match-winning centre back who was deployed at left back last night.

“What a season he is having,” Guardiola said of the Holland defender. “He controlled one of the toughest opponents in the Premier League because [Bukayo] Saka is in an incredible moment.

“He is really good in the duels in the box — defending the far post and [against] set pieces is an extra bonus. He is an exceptional guy; there was a period where he didn’t play and he never complained once.”

Arteta rued his team’s lack of ruthlessness in the final third.

“We had big situations in the game and we didn’t put them away,” the Arsenal manager said. “We can take a lot of positives from the game, though. It is really difficult to win against this team but we went head to head with them.”