Mikel Arteta offers Declan Rice update and admits injury request “is never a good sign”

Declan Rice suffered an injury in the north London derby and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has now offered an update on the midfielder ahead of the Gunners’ Carabao Cup clash against Brentford

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has issued an update on Declan Rice after he went off injured at half-time in the north London derby.

Arteta revealed after the game that Rice was taken off due to feeling “some discomfort in his back”, but said he was hopeful he would not be sidelined for too long. And when asked for an update on the midfielder’s fitness ahead of Arsenal’s third round Carabao Cup clash against Brentford, Arteta said they were “confident” it was not a serious issue but revealed he had not been able to train since the 2-2 draw against Spurs on Sunday.

“He hasn’t trained yet,” Arteta said. “Obviously he could not carry on in the game, he wasn’t comfortable at all. Hopefully it’s not something big. We are confident.

“He’s still uncomfortable, obviously he had to leave the pitch and that’s never a good sign for a player like him, but hopefully he will progress in the next few days. It’s a tough one.”