Arsenal injury update spotted at Wembley for Carabao Cup final vs Man City as huge boost clear

• Arsenal
• Arsenal News
• Arsenal injury news

Mikel Merino has missed the last six weeks with injury but the Arsenal midfielder is pushing to feature again before the end of the current campaign

Arsenal star Mikel Merino has been spotted at Wembley in a protective boot and with a crutch ahead of the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. The Spaniard underwent surgery on his foot back in January but appears to making progress towards a return before the end of the season.

In the wake of Merino's operation, which took place in early February, the expectation was that he would be unable to bear weight for up to eight weeks and thus only being on one crutch less than two months on suggests progress is being made.

Mikel Arteta was reluctant to place a timeframe on his return after surgery was confirmed but did appear confident in his comments back in February.

He said: "Well, I think the doctors were really happy the way it went. Yeah, now it starts. Obviously, it's a long process. You're talking about bone healing, so you need to be patient.

"You respect the timings, and I'm sure Mikel is going to do everything that he possibly can to speed up the process. We're talking about months, whether it's three, four or five, we don't know."

Merino has been joined by three other Arsenal stars in missing the Carabao Cup final due to injury. Captain Martin Odegaard has missed the last few weeks and has remained out of the squad to face City.

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze were both pushing to feature after suffering minor issues in the last week but neither were given the all-clear to feature.

Speaking on those two absent players, he said: “They couldn't make it, so I think they will still be a couple of weeks. Let's see after the international break if we have anybody back.”

That has resulted in Kai Havertz starting in an attacking midfield role with Ben White in at right-back. The former and Kepa Arrizabalaga coming in are the only changes from Wednesday's Champions League last-16 second leg win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Arsenal have numerous big games left this season that Arteta will want all of those players back for with the first of those after the domestic pause an FA Cup quarter-final.

The Gunners head to Championship side Southampton on Saturday, April 4 before competing in another quarter-final, this time in the Champions League, the following week against Sporting CP.

The second leg arrives the following week at Emirates Stadium with Bournemouth in north London for a Premier League clash a few days earlier.

Later in April, Arsenal face Pep Guardiola's side again with this clash at Etihad Stadium and a potentially defining one in the title race.