Despite their campaign being marred by numerous injuries, Arsenal received a moment of relief during their 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Port Vale. Crucially, the match ended with the team picking up no new injuries.

Following the match, Mikel Arteta confirmed the squad had emerged unscathed, suffering no fresh injuries. This update is a considerable boost for the team, especially given the scale of player absences that continue to affect their season, according to Goal.com.

Several key players were sidelined for the fixture, including Gabriel Jesus (knee), Kai Havertz (knee), Noni Madueke (knee), Piero Hincapié (groin), and Martin Ødegaard (shoulder). This is in addition to players like Ben White, William Saliba, and Jurrien Timber, who are only just regaining their full fitness.

Asked about his plan to manage Bukayo Saka’s minutes, Arteta explained, “It was planned, 60 minutes was the maximum. We had four, almost five players already in the line-up that we had to get him out for different reasons, especially for load and coming from long periods out, so we planned for that.

“The good thing is that nobody got injured, so he has no muscular issues. So that’s a very positive thing again.”

Read Also

It was also a night that gave Christian Nørgaard his first minutes of the campaign following his own injury problems.

After the match, Arteta underlined the importance of rotation, “What we need to do as well, apart from that, is generate the performances that we want with the players that haven’t really played together, with a completely different midfield that never played together before, with a frontline that is different as well,

“Max is coming in as well and connecting immediately with the team. It’s a lot of positives to take from the game.”

With Jesus out until January, Havertz unlikely to return before November, and Madueke facing two months on the sidelines, Arsenal can ill afford more problems.

Avoiding fresh injuries at Vale Park may prove as valuable as the victory itself, with Newcastle next on the fixture list.