Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has conceded that Calum Chambers wasn’t feeling particularly positive after suffering an injury during the clash with Chelsea on Sunday.
The 24-year-old lasted just 23 minutes of the encounter before limping off the pitch, although with a stretcher initially being brought on to take him off, it was perhaps a positive sign that he made his own way to the sidelines.
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However, Arteta spoke after the game and provided an update on his defender, and he has revealed that Chambers himself wasn’t feeling too positive initially about the severity of the problem.
“The doctors are assessing him. The first feeling he got, it wasn’t very positive,” he told the club’s official site.
Naturally, further tests and scans will be carried out to determine the full extent of the issue, and only then will Arsenal and Arteta be fully aware of how long Chambers could be ruled out of action for. That said, the player himself will know his body best and should be aware of whether or not it might be serious.
After impressing in the early stages against Chelsea as Arsenal were on the front foot for most of the game before capitulating late on to lose 2-1 at the Emirates, it will be a blow for Arteta if he now has to make do without Chambers in the coming weeks.
He does have options with the likes of Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi to come in, but with crucial games coming up starting with a showdown with Man Utd at home on Wednesday night, they need to be tighter at the back for a full 90 minutes.
Arsenal remain down in 12th place in the Premier League table after the weekend, and as they sit seven points adrift of United ahead of their encounter, they will know the importance of defeating their old rivals to keep themselves in contention for a top-four finish this season.