Two Key Injuries in Training / Arteta: Today We Witnessed an Unprecedented Bad Event!

Ahead of Arsenal's Champions League match against Lille, Mikel Arteta gave an update on Piero Hincapié and Martín Zubimendi.

According to "Varzeh Se", the gunners will not have these two players in the match on Tuesday night at the Emirates Stadium due to an ankle injury.

Speaking to reporters at the Sobha Realty training facility, the 44-year-old Arsenal manager confirmed that Hincapie and Zubimandi had suffered "freak knocks" during recovery training on the pitch after Saturday's win over Leeds United.

"That's what happened," Arteta said. We had a training session as planned and unfortunately two very unfortunate and unexpected incidents happened and we lost two of our players. "We have to measure their condition and more detailed scans are being done to determine the extent of the damage."

The Spanish coach continued: "The conditions are not ideal at all. It's very simple, if you don't train, you won't get injured. This can happen in the team, but it has never happened in my seven years here. I hope it won't happen again, but what can I do? "If I had a magic orb, I'd just tell you guys, get in the hot tub and I'll see you tomorrow."

He then confirmed their absence in the match and added: "Both players will definitely miss tomorrow's game. We will have more information tomorrow. "Piro's condition seems a bit more serious."

Neither Hincapie nor Zubimandi trained with the first team before the pre-match press conference. William Saliba was on the pitch but trained separately from Arteta's squad as he continues to recover from a back problem.

In response to the approximate time of the defender's return, the Arsenal coach said: "We are still talking about the absence of several weeks."

Arteta was also questioned about Abrachi Eze and his role in the squad after he has not played more than 250 minutes this season. "Like everyone else, I think the players have to earn the right to play," said the Spanish coach. It's about training sessions and when you're on the pitch to make the impact the team needs."

Eze has made seven appearances for Arsenal, however he has only made one start against Ipswich Town in the third round of the League Cup. Arteta continued: "He will have many opportunities to do so. "His attitude is fantastic and our players have to adapt to his qualities and abilities."

When asked about the Gunners' attacking performance following their 1-0 win over Napoli in the opening week of the Champions League group stage, Arteta said: "I think things are going very well. I think the way we finish chances is probably something we need to improve, but in terms of the chances we created before the nationals, we were better than any other year. After that, we had a 3-0 away defeat against Brighton and then another game against Leeds, which had different conditions. "However, we are putting ourselves in good positions and now we just need to be more decisive in the final shots to convert more chances into goals."