Myles Lewis-Skelly, a budding star for Arsenal, has been added to the team’s ever-increasing list of injuries, and Mikel Arteta has explained why the young player was left out of the Champions League.
In the middle of Arsenal’s current injury problem, which has seen numerous important defenders hurt throughout a demanding run of games, the adaptable 18-year-old has been a rare bright spot.
After Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White, and Takehiro Tomiyasu were sidelined due to injuries, Arteta gave Lewis-Skelly the starting minutes. Lewis-Skelly has started the team’s last two Premier League games.
However, Arteta disclosed that Lewis-Skelly injured his knee in the exciting 2-2 draw against Aston Villa over the weekend, making it impossible for him to complete training on Tuesday.
In lieu of Lewis-Skelly for Arsenal’s match against Dinamo Zagreb, Oleksandr Zinchenko was brought up to the starting lineup after Arteta confirmed yet another destabilizing injury issue.
The Gunners manager gave TNT Sports an explanation for Lewis-Skelly’s absence, saying, “Unfortunately, he was unable to complete the training session yesterday [Tuesday].”
The Spaniard went on to say, “He had an incident during the match against Aston Villa and he wasn’t feeling well yesterday so he could not finish the session.”
During the troublesome training session, Lewis-Skelly was first seen grinning before pulling up and going back inside for additional evaluation.
Nevertheless, even though he was not available for selection, the England Under-19 international traveled to the Emirates to witness the Champions League.
On Thursday, additional scans and evaluations are scheduled to determine the extent of Lewis-Skelly’s grievance, with supporters hoping it won’t be a chronic issue.
This season, the attacking full-back has made 16 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions as they try to overtake Liverpool for the Premier League title.
Calafiori, who has missed the last three games due to a muscle ailment, was hoping to play against Zagreb, but the situation was similar.
“The same with Ricci as well, he only trained 20 minutes,” Arteta added, explaining why the Italian was simply mentioned on the bench.
“Readapt as we have throughout the season and bring some new players to the team, which is also important, in my opinion.”