🔗 Share this article Mikel Arteta Fears Injury Crisis Could Undermine Arsenal's Silverware Hunt Arsenal's manager has voiced fears that his team's pursuit for honors this campaign is being jeopardized by a concerning cycle of injuries and a grueling schedule. Fresh Squad News Star player Declan Rice did not travel for the Champions League trip to Belgium due to illness. Meanwhile, attacker Leandro Trossard and center-back William Saliba are still unavailable. There was, on a brighter note, positive news regarding Gabriel Jesus, with the South American forward added to their Champions League squad. He comes in for the injured youngster Max Dowman, who suffered an foot injury. "Practice, no because we lack time to train. But obviously the fact that you are without players, you are loading other players more, there's a knock-on effect to that and it's a truly vicious cycle." Dowman's issue is the most recent in a extensive series of injuries for the North London side. Since the start of last season, they have recorded 95 player absences, the second-highest total in the Premier League. Extended Absences Defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel Magalhães are not expected to return until 2025. Midfielder Kai Havertz still recover from knee and "requires more time," according to the boss. Arteta dismissed the idea that practice methods were to culprit, pointing to a shortage of time for drills. He emphasized the strain on available players, some of whom have played over 150 games in two seasons. Recruitment Plans Despite a significant summer spend over £250 million, Arteta insisted the team is not looking to dip into the January transfer market. "At the moment we're just concentrating on getting the players back and with luck it will be a question of a short time," he said. "We know how important those coming weeks are going to be." Next Challenge The team experienced their initial loss in 18 matches at the hands of Aston Villa, reducing their advantage at the summit of the league to two clear points. Attention now shifts to the European stage, where a sixth consecutive group-stage win would all but guarantee a knockout phase finish. Winger Gabriel Martinelli could create history by finding the net in a fifth successive European fixture. "The team is disappointed with the outcome, but we have to keep going," he said. "It's not like all is going badly because we lost one game. So we stick together."