Depleted Arsenal suffer another injury blow with Ethan Nwaneri sidelined

Arsenal have been dealt another injury blow after teen sensation Ethan Nwaneri was ruled out for the rest of the month on the eve of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle.

Nwaneri, 17, marked his second successive Premier League start in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Brighton by opening the scoring in the first period before he was withdrawn at half-time.

Nwaneri, a product of Arsenal’s Hale End academy, was handed his chance as a result of injuries to Bukayo Saka – with the England man expected to be out until March – and Raheem Sterling.

But Mikel Arteta now faces being without the teenager for the entirety of January with seven fixtures to follow this month, starting with the first leg of their semi-final against Newcastle at the Emirates.

“Unfortunately, he has picked up a muscular injury and he will be out for a few weeks,” said Arteta, with neither the Arsenal boss or club clarifying which part of the player’s body had been affected.

“He didn’t really know it had been happened to be fair. He said: ‘I am feeling something, but I don’t really know what it is’.

“He has earned the right to step up and play for us and now he has started some big games, and impacted those games in the way he has done in different positions, too.

“So I am gutted for him because the injury is going to stop that. But it is another step in the development phase that he is in.”

Kai Havertz could return from illness against Newcastle after the Germany international was unable to take part in the fixtures against Brentford and Brighton.

Martin Odegaard, battling with the same virus, was only fit enough to start on the bench at Brighton.

And Arteta revealed just eight of his first-team players were able to report for training on Monday.

Arteta continued: “Today we had seven, eight players with us and just (had) to fill the squad, which is unknown. I cannot change it, so let’s take the things that we can get out of them to be better.”

Asked if Nwaneri’s setback could force Arsenal into transfer action this month, Arteta said: “What happens in the market, we are very alert. It’s not a yes, but it’s not a no.”

The Gunners remain six points behind Liverpool in the race for the title – having played one match more than the Reds – after their draw at the Amex Stadium on Saturday. He now turns his attention to the cup competitions.

Eddie Howe’s in-form Newcastle stand in the way of Arteta’s men reaching the final of the Carabao Cup – a tournament the Gunners have not won in more than three decades – as the Spaniard bids to land the second trophy of his five-year tenure after he oversaw Arsenal’s 2020 FA Cup triumph.

“I’m very excited to play the game,” added Arteta. “Home crowd, semi-final, the opportunity to earn the right to be in a final. It starts tomorrow. Two legs and it’s obviously going to be two long games against a very competitive team. We know that, but I am very excited and we need a big, big atmosphere in our stadium.”

Newcastle have won six matches in succession with Alexander Isak scoring a remarkable nine goals in his last seven league outings.

Former Arsenal star Paul Merson recently urged Arsenal to “break the bank” to sign the Sweden forward.

Asked how he plans to stop Isak from striking again, Arteta replied: “Obviously he is a top player in top form, scoring a lot of goals. And trying to minimise the strengths of the opposition is a big part of the plan when we play any opponent.”