Mikel Arteta has admitted that Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson will not be ready for Saturday's Premier League clash with Brentford at the Emirates.
The two Hale End graduates have spent a significant portion of the campaign on the sidelines through injury, making just 13 appearances between them in all tournaments.
Smith Rowe recently made a full recovery from groin surgery, but he has since suffered a setback with a thigh issue and has missed Arsenal's last two games.
Meanwhile, Nelson has been absent since sustaining a hamstring injury in a friendly defeat to Juventus on December 17, although he has been training with the rest of the team recently.
Nevertheless, Arteta admitted in his pre-game press conference that neither man would be ready to take part at the weekend, while Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Elneny remain out.
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"The ones that they were long time like Emile, Reiss and Gabi they are closer. They started to do some work outside but they are not ready to contribute yet," Arteta said.
Jesus recently made his return to Arsenal's London Colney training centre as he steps up his recovery from knee surgery, and he told MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov last month that he was aiming for a return in "four to five weeks", which would put him in contention for a comeback at the beginning of March.
However, Arteta refused to put a timeframe on Jesus's recovery and insisted that "timelines" must be respected, adding: "Gabi's doing really well, he's outside a little bit but it's still early stages.
"He's pushing everybody every single day, but we need to respect some timelines and some processes but he's doing really well."
When asked if a date had been pencilled in for Jesus's return, Arteta replied: "Not yet, I think it's still too far. We have to see how he puts some load into the knee and start to get some movements and actions that are not as controlled as he has been doing."
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Arsenal have the chance to move eight points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table after both sides suffered defeats to Everton and Tottenham Hotspur respectively last weekend.
Since the previous gameweek, Arteta's former club Man City have been charged with over 100 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules, which are now in the hands of an independent commission.
City have emphatically denied the charges, but sanctions such as fines, points deductions or even expulsion from the Premier League if they are found guilty.
Arteta served as Pep Guardiola's assistant for three years at Man City between 2016 and 2019, but when asked if he ever saw anything untoward at the club, the Spaniard simply replied: "No."
The Gunners will welcome the champions - who beat Arteta's side 1-0 in the FA Cup last month - to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday following the weekend's matches.
Ben Knapton
