Arsenal face rare double injury blow before Lille Champions League tie

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he has never experienced a similar situation during his seven years at the club after Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi were injured in a training session held after Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League victory over Leeds United.

Both players are now doubts for Arsenal’s Champions League meeting with Lille on Tuesday.

Hincapie, 24, came on in the 82nd minute against Leeds, while Zubimendi, 27, remained an unused substitute. The pair were hurt during additional work arranged for players who had not played enough minutes in the match.

“It’s never happened in seven years I’ve been here. It could happen in the training session the next day,” Arteta said on Monday.

“It’s happened now and hopefully it doesn’t happen again, but what can you do?”

Arsenal will carry out further scans before determining the extent of the injuries and how long either player could be unavailable.

“We had a training session planned after the match for everyone that didn’t get enough minutes, and in two unfortunate actions we lost two players,” said Arteta.

“They’ll have further scans to see where they are and we’ll have that time frame for how long they are going to be out for.”

The manager defended the decision to arrange the session, saying players needed competitive preparation even when they were not regularly featuring in matches.

“If they never train, they don’t get injured. The consequence of that is when you ask them to play they have no rhythm and no impact in the game.”

Hincapie has made three Premier League appearances as a substitute this season. However, he started Arsenal’s Champions League victory over Napoli last month.

Zubimendi has also mainly been used from the bench during the current campaign, making five league appearances as a substitute.

The injuries leave Arsenal waiting for more information before assessing whether either player can be involved against Lille.