Our skipper hasn’t travelled to Bergamo for our opening Champions League match of the season after sustaining the injury on international duty with Norway last week, and in his pre-match press conference, the boss confirmed that Martin is set to spend some time on the sidelines.
However he has challenged his players to step up in his absence, as he has the belief that they can still get huge results such as the victory at Tottenham Hotspur while our skipper recuperates, albeit in perhaps a slightly different style than we’ve been accustomed too.
When asked for an update, Mikel revealed: “After everything was scanned, they showed there was some damage, especially in one of the ligaments in the ankle so we’re going to miss him.
“I don’t want to [put a timeframe on it] because I am not a doctor but it is something quite significant so we’re going to lose him for a while – hopefully not months but let’s see.
“He’s our captain - he’s one of our biggest players. He’s been one of the most consistent players in the last two or three seasons. Our identity is very related to his way of playing and his way of behaving. We’re going to have to deal with it and that’s a great test for the team as well - how capable we are to show maybe a different face. The fact [is] we have other players and other options that can be very effective.”
Every word from Arteta's pre-Atalanta presser
The boss did have better news on the availability of two other players who had been doubtful for the trip to Italy.
Bukayo Saka limped off during the north London derby, while Riccardo Calafiori missed out completely with a calf issue. Both though were back in training on Wednesday and have made the matchday squad for the Atalanta game.
On the duo, Mikel added: “[Bukayo] was able to train today. He completed most of the session so he’s available.
“Riccardo was able to train today so he will be available. He’s in the squad and that’s great news because as we all know we’ve been quite short in the past few weeks.”
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