Jurrien Timber gives perfect response to huge Arsenal injury boost after Mikel Arteta update

Arsenal have been struggling with a few injury troubles once again this season, but those issues have been lightened by a recent return for Mikel Arteta in the backline

Jurrien Timber was among a whole host of Arsenal players to show their affection to Gabriel Magalhaes after he made his return to action from injury. The Brazilian has been absent for the Gunners since the November international break, when he picked up a thigh problem during a friendly for his national team.

It was the start of an injury crisis that Mikel Arteta has faced in the backline, with a period that has included problems for William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White, and Timber. It's nothing new for the head coach, who has been dealing with some losses, but some have been bigger than others.

Gabriel has been one of those who is felt the most, given his presence in both boxes and the quality he has shown in recent months. Fortunately for Arsenal, he has since made his return with a substitute appearance against Brighton over the weekend, coming as quite a boost.

The defender took to social media to give his thoughts on the return, stating: "Happy to be back with the boys!! Thank you God!! Big W. See you on Tuesday Gunners!!"

Plenty of players showed their love for Gabriel in the comments, with Timber leading the way with two heart emojis, followed by Mosquera who commented the same. Saliba put heart eye emojis, while Hincapie put emojis that said top, followed by another heart.

There is a real togetherness among the Arsenal ranks, even with the injury troubles they have faced, as they look to battle through a tough part of the season. The fixtures come thick and fast and while the return of Gabriel is good news, there are two fresh absences.

Calafiori had to be withdrawn in the warm-up for Arsenal's clash with Brighton, having struggled with an issue in training beforehand. He joined Timber in being an absentee over the weekend, as Arteta is suddenly handed some problems with his full-back depth during this period.

"But what I like is that we have a lot of issues, we're dealing with it in an incredible way," Arteta said on the injury issues, when reflecting on the Brighton performance. "Yesterday we lost Jurrien, today we lost Calafiori in the warm-up, Declan [Rice] has to play as a full-back and you see the performance that he put in, so that's the spirit and that's how much our players want it."

There have been concerns over whether Arsenal can keep up their performance levels with those problems, to which Arteta said: "At the moment we survived six months, so let's see. There's another five and a half to go, so hopefully things will get better, the good news as well, for example we've got Gabi.

"We've got Gabi earlier than expected, which is great, the staff they've done an incredible job, the way he pushes himself as well, and that's what we need, because we lost one, we've got somebody else back, and overall I think the performance was against a really good side, very, very good."

Next up for Arsenal is a clash against Aston Villa in a tie that could have huge implications on the Premier League title race. The Gunners currently lead the way, but their rivals in third sit just three points behind them, setting up an enticing battle at Emirates Stadium.

Arteta's side lost 2-1 late on in the reverse fixture at Villa Park, and will be hopeful of avoiding a repeat in north London. With both teams missing some key players, it could make for an interesting battle.