Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard remains weeks away from returning to action after his ankle injury and several other players will also miss Wednesday’s League Cup clash at home to Bolton Wanderers, manager Mikel Arteta said on Tuesday.
Odegaard was injured playing for Norway in the international break and Arteta does not expect him to return until October.
“I think it will be a matter of weeks, but how long exactly I cannot tell,” the Spaniard told reporters.
“We might get a surprise but I think it’s unlikely he’ll be back before the international break.”
The next international window runs from October 7-16 with Arsenal hosting Leicester City and Southampton in the Premier League with a Champions League clash against Paris St Germain sandwiched between the two.
Arsenal is quickly back in action in its League Cup third-round tie with Bolton after Sunday’s gripping 2-2 draw at Manchester City in which it hung on with 10 men for the entire second half but conceded a last-gasp equaliser.
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Several Arsenal players required treatment on the pitch in the second half with some accusing them of delaying tactics.
“I always prefer the facts to words than supposing things,” Arteta said. “Let’s see who is available tomorrow and then we can talk about dark arts. Unfortunately, there will be a few players who are not available. Tomorrow you will find out.”
The visit of third-tier Bolton will be an opportunity for some of Arsenal’s fringe players to get some playing time with new signing Raheem Sterling likely to start.
“He had a few minutes already. He played in a few games and Wednesday he has another opportunity,” Arteta said of the former Manchester City winger who joined from Chelsea last month.
“He is hungry to have more minutes and to impact the team in the way he can.”
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