Arteta’s update on Merino and Timber | Press conference | News

Mikel Arteta has issued an update on the fitness of our first team squad ahead of Sunday’s London derby against West Ham United.

The boss began by confirming that everyone who was involved in Tuesday’s historic victory over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final would be available once again at the London Stadium.

But while we’ll have the majority of our squad to choose from, both Mikel Merino and Jurrien Timber will remain sidelined.

“No chance for the weekend,” Mikel said on the pair, “there’s still a fair bit to do (in their recoveries).

“Everything has to be so smooth and quick if they want to have a chance to play any minutes (this season).”

While Merino’s injury was expected to leave the Spaniard out for an extended period of time, the boss admitted that it’s been difficult for Timber, who hadn’t initially expected to miss as much time as he has.

“That’s been probably the most difficult thing to manage with the player, with myself as well.

“We didn’t expect it to take so long, and at the moment, he’s not fit to play.”

While we won’t have the luxury of selecting either Merino or Timber for Sunday’s game, we will once again have Bukayo Saka and Ben White available.

The combination between the two England players on our right-hand side has been clear to see since Saka’s return to the side last month, and Mikel is enjoying their chemistry as much as our supporters.

“When you talk about the right units, I think the amount of minutes that they’ve played this season has been extremely low for different circumstances.

“It’s great that they have a really good connection, a really good understanding, they have played many years together and you can sense that and notice that in a really positive way.”

Saka and White are two of several players who have returned after lengthy injury spells, and the boss is delighted to have most of his first team squad available at the business end of the season.

“Very important, it’s great to see,” the boss said on the number of returning players, “to witness the quality that we had on the bench the other night (against Atletico), if you compare that to a year ago, that’s a very different picture.

“We have managed in the last week or so as well to have some players fresher, and you could sense that as well, and as I said from the beginning, that’s the most important thing. If we have that, we have a bigger chance to achieve the goal.”