Ben White is facing an extended spell on the sidelines due to the hamstring injury he picked up in the win over Wolves on Saturday.
The Arsenal defender started in the 2-1 win for the Gunners but had to be substituted after 31 minutes, replaced by Myles Lewis-Skelly.
It was a tricky afternoon for the league leaders against the team at the foot of the table, eventually winning 2-1 thanks to an injury time own goal from Yerson Mosquera.
Mikel Arteta was not certain as to the severity of the injury, telling TNT Sports after the narrow win: ‘We don’t know, I think he felt something in his hamstring.
‘We’ll have to wait and see the extent of that injury so not good news in that sense.’
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The results of a scan on Sunday have not been positive, with The Sun reporting that White now faces at least a month out of action.
It will be of immense frustration for White as he has spent much of the season so far out of the team, with a knee problem and falling behind Jurrien Timber in the pecking order at right-back.
Fitness issues in the Gunners squad have afforded White chances in the starting XI again, but he will have to wait for more opportunities.
Speaking in a post-match press conference on Saturday, the Arsenal boss said: ‘He hasn’t played a lot of minutes because of the previous knee issue that he had, then the moment he started to get some momentum, he had to play a lot because we didn’t have any other solution.
‘We had to even risk Wilo [Saliba] today because probably it wasn’t their best call to play 90 minutes because we were buying tickets for another injury, but we don’t have anybody else, but yeah that’s bad news for sure.’
Arsenal's December fixtures
Sat Dec 20: Everton (a) Premier League
Tue Dec 23: Crystal Palace (h) Carabao Cup quarter-finals
Sat Dec 27: Arsenal (h) Premier League
Tue Dec 30: Aston Villa (h) Premier League
It is unwelcome news for Arteta as he continues to deal with a string of injuries, especially in defence.
William Saliba returned from injury to start against Wolves, but centre-backs Gabriel Magalhaes and Cristhian Mosquera remain out.
Riccardo Calafiori has been dealing with an injury issue but is fit again and can return.
The back four against Wolves saw Timber starting alongside Saliba at centre-back and Piero Hincapie filling in at left-back while Calfiori was suspended.
Also sidelined is Kai Havertz, although he could return by the end of the month, while teenager Max Dowman is out for weeks with an ankle problem.
Arsenal are not in action in midweek, next playing at Everton on Saturday evening in the Premier League.
Then comes a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace on December 23 and home games against Brighton and Aston Villa between Christmas and New Year.
