Arsenal forced to abandon bizarre Mansfield experiment as Mikel Arteta dealt fresh injury blow

Arsenal suffered a fresh injury blow in their FA Cup fifth-round clash with Mansfield Town on Saturday afternoon, as Leandro Trossard was forced off in the first half.

The Belgium international was brought into the starting XI for the trip to Field Mill, one of nine changes that Mikel Arteta made from the 1-0 Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek.

Trossard occupied the left-hand side in an unfamiliar 3-4-3 formation from the Arsenal boss, who stationed the former Seagulls winger in attack with Gabriel Jesus and the electrifying Max Dowman.

The Belgian struggled to make an impact against the inspired League One side, though, and he then went down with an apparent injury towards the end of the first 45.

Trossard dropping to the turf triggered a smattering of boos from the Mansfield crowd, who felt that the attacker was simply trying to buy the visitors some time after a few promising attacks from Nigel Clough's side.

Arsenal's Leandro Trossard withdrawn due to injury against Mansfield

However, Trossard had to be replaced by Piero Hincapie, dealing Arteta an untimely injury blow ahead of the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Bayer Leverkusen next week.

The 31-year-old has been dealing with a persistent calf problem throughout the season, but he appeared to be struggling with his knee rather than his lower leg while he was down on the turf receiving treatment.

Arteta will likely be quizzed on Trossard's issue in his post-match press conference, but the attacker's withdrawal forced the Arsenal boss to quickly abandon his FA Cup lineup experiment.

With Hincapie replacing Trossard, the Premier League leaders returned to their recognisable back four, as the Ecuadorian slotted into a left centre-back role and Riccardo Calafiori returned to left-back duties.

The formation switch quickly worked wonders for Arsenal, as Noni Madueke opened the scoring with a wonderful left-footed strike into the top corner just a few minutes after Trossard's withdrawal.

The Belgium international has provided seven goals and eight assists in 38 appearances for Arsenal in all tournaments this season, but he has now emerged as an immediate doubt for the clash with Leverkusen on Wednesday.

When will Arsenal's other injured players return?

For the time being, Trossard joins Mikel Merino, Martin Odegaard, William Saliba and Ben White in the Arsenal infirmary, but only the former is guaranteed to miss the first leg of the Champions League last 16.

Odegaard (knee) and White (knock) remain on the touch and go list, but it would be a surprise to see the latter involved in midweek; there have been no firm updates on the severity or nature of his injury.

However, Saliba will hope to return for Wednesday's game, as will Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and David Raya, who all enjoyed well-earned rests this weekend.