Mikel Arteta has revealed Jurrien Timber will be in the matchday squad for Saturday’s opening Premier League fixture against Wolves at the Emirates Stadium.
Our Dutch international was not in the squad for our last three pre-season fixtures against Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon but Mikel claimed he has made huge strides off the field.
Reflecting on Jurrien’s fitness, he said: "Jurrien will be in the squad tomorrow. Obviously he had a really tough period but he used it in a great way I think because he’s managed to get a lot of things done and improved in many areas except playing.
"He found it really helpful I think and now he’s ready and he has a chance."
Fabio Vieira also missed our final warm-up fixture with a minor hip problem and Mikel stated the club will monitor his progress ahead of Saturday’s clash. "We have checked him now after training to see how he is but he looked to adapt to it," he said.
Defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are both out for a "few weeks," the boss said with knee and hamstring injuries respectively.
On Tierney’s injury, Mikel encouraged the Scot, saying: "He needs to focus on recovering in the best possible way, it’s been a tough time for him again with the last injury. We have to try to support him and make sure he gets back fit."
Several youngsters have impressed in pre-season, including Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly. The pair started our first pre-season tour fixture against Bournemouth and gone on to feature in every other match.
Their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed and Mikel is delighted with the progress his young chargers made on the tour.
"Myles has played a lot of minutes, Ethan and Ayden [Heaven] as well in pre-season," he said. "That gave them a platform to understand how good they are and the options that we have in the squad right now. They are certainly going to be training with us."
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Mikel Arteta has revealed Jurrien Timber will be in the matchday squad for Saturday’s opening Premier League fixture against Wolves at the Emirates Stadium.
Our Dutch international was not in the squad for our last three pre-season fixtures against Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon but Mikel claimed he has made huge strides off the field.
Reflecting on Jurrien’s fitness, he said: "Jurrien will be in the squad tomorrow. Obviously he had a really tough period but he used it in a great way I think because he’s managed to get a lot of things done and improved in many areas except playing.
"He found it really helpful I think and now he’s ready and he has a chance."
Fabio Vieira also missed our final warm-up fixture with a minor hip problem and Mikel stated the club will monitor his progress ahead of Saturday’s clash. "We have checked him now after training to see how he is but he looked to adapt to it," he said.
Defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are both out for a "few weeks," the boss said with knee and hamstring injuries respectively.
On Tierney’s injury, Mikel encouraged the Scot, saying: "He needs to focus on recovering in the best possible way, it’s been a tough time for him again with the last injury. We have to try to support him and make sure he gets back fit."
Several youngsters have impressed in pre-season, including Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly. The pair started our first pre-season tour fixture against Bournemouth and gone on to feature in every other match.
Their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed and Mikel is delighted with the progress his young chargers made on the tour.
"Myles has played a lot of minutes, Ethan and Ayden [Heaven] as well in pre-season," he said. "That gave them a platform to understand how good they are and the options that we have in the squad right now. They are certainly going to be training with us."