Arsenal defender Ben White is now facing a late fitness test to return at Brentford on Saturday after missing the Gunners’ previous Premier League fixture due to an injury.
That is according to football.london, which reports that White was missing as Arsenal edged Burnley 3-1 after struggling with a knee injury. He had been dealing with the problem during recent weeks. But the issue reached a point where Mikel Arteta had to omit the 26-year-old.
Arsenal had hoped to see White return to full training at London Colney in the international break. Gareth Southgate opted against including the four-cap defender in the England team to meet Malta and North Macedonia. He has not called White up since the 2022 World Cup.
Arsenal star White faces a late injury test to face Brentford
White is a big part of Arteta’s plans at Emirates Stadium, though, having started all 11 of the Gunners’ Premier League matches before hosting Burnley this season. His place at Brentford on Saturday evening is still in doubt, however. The full-back is yet to fully shake off the issue.
Arsenal will put White through a late fitness test before facing Brentford to assess the extent of the muscle injury. Arteta will likely field the Poole native at the Gtech Community Stadium if he gets given the all-clear. He got the knock two weeks before missing the Burnley match.
Arteta admitted White had been uncomfortable in training
Arteta admitted ahead of Arsenal’s win over Burnley that White had been uncomfortable in training due to his knee injury. He has now had the international break to recover in view of playing Brentford. But the pause in Premier League fixtures may not have been long enough.
“Yesterday, in training, he wasn’t comfortable,” football.london also quotes Arteta as saying earlier this month. “He didn’t look right. But Ben won’t give you much. He always wants to be on the pitch and he wants to hide anything that is in there.
“But we highlighted something happening there that we noticed in the last two weeks, as well. We wanted to protect him today. It was the right call from the physios and the medical department and tomorrow, we will assess him and understand what’s happening.”
Arteta turned to Takehiro Tomiyasu to cover for White against Burnley and would also likely field the 25-year-old against Brentford. But given how White has emerged as the Spaniard’s first-choice at right-back, Arteta will surely want the player he calls ‘really special’ to return.
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