Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta provides Bukayo Saka injury update after winger limps off against Lens

The winger was forced off in the first half of Tuesday’s loss (Picture: David Winter/Shutterstock)

Mikel Arteta says Bukayo Saka will need to be assessed after he limped out of Arsenal’s Champions League defeat to Lens, with the winger now a doubt to face Manchester City.

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The 22-year-old has now failed to finish his last three matches after pulling up clutching his thigh in Tuesday’s match, with Saka unable to continue and replaced by Fabio Vieira in the 34th minute.

He headed straight down the tunnel, limping as he did so, though did later join his team-mates in the dugout to watch the second half.

Saka was a doubt going into the match after also being forced off against Bournemouth and now has just five days to recover before champions City visit the Emirates on Sunday.

Arteta, though, says the problem was a fresh issue unrelated to the Bournemouth knock and the injury will need to be assessed in the coming days.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the defeat, Arteta shook his head when asked if the injury to Saka was a hangover from the Bournemouth match and replied: ‘It was an action, a backheel, and he felt something in this specific action.

‘It was nothing else. Obviously he wasn’t comfortable to continue.’

Saka assisted Gabriel Jesus before being forced off (Picture: PA)

Asked if he knows how severe the injury is yet, Arteta added bluntly: ‘No.’

In his post-match press conference he was also asked for specifics on the injury and replied: ‘We don’t know anything more than that. It was big enough for us to remove him.’

On whether he regretted starting the winger, he added: ‘No. There was a knock that he had the other day and he was perfectly fine.

‘It’s an action that can produce that kind of injury. Afterwards it’s too late.’

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Arsenal took the lead in Lens thanks to Gabriel Jesus’ excellent opener but were pegged back in the 25th minute by an even better finish from Adrien Thomasson before Elye Wahi swept home in the second half to secure a 2-1 victory for the Ligue 1 side.

Probed on whether the team felt the pressure of playing so many matches, Arteta hit back: ‘I didn’t see that. Especially in the first half the way we were playing.

‘Obviously after we have to make changes, the change of Bukayo obviously and two wingers that we are missing that give us a lot of threat and it’s different with other qualities that we have in the squad.

‘Learn from it, it was a big night for us and we didn’t manage to get a result that we wanted, but we take a lot of things from it and we learn.’

MORE : Bukayo Saka forced off against Lens and a doubt for Arsenal’s clash with Manchester City

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