Arsenal gets mixed injury news with double blow softened by triple boost

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Arsenal will be without William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli for their Carabao Cup fixture against Brighton, although manager Mikel Arteta was able to provide more encouraging updates on Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori.

Gunners manager Arteta was forced to withdraw Saliba, Rice and Calafiori during the victory over Crystal Palace due to injury concerns, whilst Martinelli also became a worry.

Saliba was substituted at the interval by Cristhian Mosquera before Rice required medical attention late in the contest. Evaluations are continuing for Saliba and Martinelli, though neither is anticipated to feature against the Seagulls.

Arteta commented: "[Saliba] is out. We are assessing him, but he won't be involved this match. [Martinelli] looks as well that he is going to be out. We have to, again, do some more tests and see the extent of the injury. But this game is going to be too early for him."

When questioned about Saka, who featured at the weekend despite battling illness, alongside Rice and Calafiori, Arteta confirmed the trio were 'fine' and 'available'.

Arteta also provided an update on Ben White's situation following the defender's setback in his rehabilitation.

"He had a setback and that hasn't helped," he said.

"It was an injury that kept him out for a few weeks and we had to manage his load. The reason why he's not been playing is to manage that; he's in a good place now, he's been training more recently and his feeling has been very good.

Arteta also gave an update on Ben White

Arteta also gave an update on Ben White

"When Ben is at the level that he can show, he's a top player for us, a player that drives the team in a different way, gives us a different threat on that flank as well, and we need him at his best."

As the north London side gears up to face Brighton, the Spanish manager is expected to shuffle his squad. Arteta aims to balance the workload of his team during this busy period.

The coach stated: "We're going to try to manage the minutes and the loads as best we can because, as you say, we have a lot of games coming up with a very short recovery time, which is a bit unusual, but we're going to remain very competitive."

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