Mikel Arteta provides fitness update on 5 Arsenal stars ahead of UCL clash against Monaco

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that several of his players face late fitness tests ahead of their UEFA Champions League clash against AS Monaco on Wednesday, December 11. He was quizzed about the squad's injured players in the pre-match press conference, and the manager said most are still a doubt for the game.

Speaking to the media, Arteta stated that they will take a call on the injured players as the game nears. He said (via ArseBlog):

"We have to manage a lot of the players. Some of them probably aren't going to be fit. Some are still a doubt. We have 24 hours to make a decision and hopefully it'll be the right ones."

The Spanish tactician also stated that he is happy to see Scottish left-back Keiran Tierney back in training. He added:

"Yeah he's ready and training really well and he's going to have an opportunity for sure the way the team is looking at the moment. He's going to do that for that reason and because he's earned it. The way he's behaved the way he's been with us and because he's willing to do it. When that happens you have to give opportunities to those kinds of players."

Ben White is ruled out for Arsenal along with Takehiro Tomiyasu and the duo are expected to be back next year. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori are doubtful, while Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber were also missing from training on Tuesday.

"The amount of minutes that they have to play" - Mikel Arteta on reasons for Arsenal's injury issues

Mikel Arteta has claimed that Arsenal's injury woes have been caused by harsh tackles from opponents and an unrelenting schedule. He said:

"We have some that have been through tackles, for example, that are again quite difficult to avoid. And the other ones probably is overload, the amount of minutes that they have to play. The knock-on effect of having one or two players not available means that you put more stress and more minutes in somebody else, and that’s not a good change because the consequences and the load of other players starts to be too high or much higher than what you want to do. But this is where we are."

Arsenal are third in the Premier League table after dropping points to Fulham this weekend. They are six points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand, and two points behind Chelsea, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 on Sunday.