Arteta gives Arsenal injury update before Nottingham Forest test

Mikel Arteta says Martin Zubimendi will have a final chance to prove his fitness when Arsenal travel to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Gunners face Nottingham Forest at 18:30 BST in the seventh round of the Premier League, with Arteta also providing updates on Piero Hincapie, Christos Tzolis and William Saliba.

“Zubimendi looks better,” Arsenal manager Arteta said at his pre-match news conference. “We have another training session on Saturday to assess whether he is ready to play in the match, and I hope Piero Hincapie will return before the next international break.”

Arteta added that Tzolis would be unavailable for several weeks, while Saliba’s recovery was progressing well.

“Christos Tzolis needs weeks before he can return to playing, and William Saliba is recovering extremely positively,” he said.

Saliba was absent from Arsenal’s annual squad photograph, but Arteta said that was not connected to the defender’s rehabilitation.

“We tried to take that photograph three times and had to cancel it for different reasons,” Arteta said. “We had some commercial commitments. We will take another photograph with everyone in the squad, and we hope that we can get them all together at some point.”

Arsenal have been criticised for their reliance on set-piece goals, but Arteta believes his side are also showing greater attacking variety in open play.

“We have received criticism for scoring goals from set pieces, but the team is showing excellent attacking fluidity,” he said. “We have scored some beautiful goals.”

Arsenal scored 22 goals from set pieces last season, which contributed to them winning the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years.

Arteta said he expected a challenging contest against Nottingham Forest, who he believes can build momentum in front of their home supporters.

“Nottingham Forest are an excellent team and are capable of creating momentum at home, but we are ready for that,” he said.

The Arsenal manager was also asked about the club’s decision to reduce the number of employees. Arteta said he was not the appropriate person to address the issue.

“I am not the right person to answer that question,” he said. “I hope everyone respects that. Some decisions have to be made to put people in the right roles and to continue investing so we can achieve what we want to achieve the success we want. The relevant people explained that to me.”

Arsenal are second in the league table with 15 points, while Nottingham Forest are 15th with five points.