Mikel Arteta had positive injury updates to share surrounding Jurrien Timber, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Jurrien came off at half-time against PSG on Tuesday with a muscular issue, while Ben missed that game with a knock and Tomi has been out all season so far with a knee issue.
Speaking to the media in his pre-Southampton press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday afternoon, Mikel said that late decisions will be made on all three players.
“We had to modify training for a lot of players,” he explained. “We’ve done the same today because of the load that they had, so it’s a decision to make this afternoon, whether to involve them, yes or no.
“They are close, and Tomiyasu as well is quite close to being involved, so good news.”
As for Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) and Martin Odegaard (ankle), Mikel said both are likely to be closer to a return after the international break.
“Alex probably after the international break if everything goes well,” he said. “He’s progressing really well and with Martin it’s very difficult to say.
“I expected him to still be with the boot and a lot of things and he’s working so hard and is feeling good and is pushing it, so it’s difficult to give a timeline.”
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