Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that Kieran Tierney has partially returned to training and could be available for the Gunners' clash with Watford this weekend.
The Scotland international missed Arsenal's recent wins against Aston Villa and Leicester City with an ankle problem.
But Arteta confirmed in a press conference on Friday that while Tierney is yet to resume full training, he's stepped up his recovery and could return on Sunday against the Hornets.
“Kieran has been training the last two days, he’s been much better so hopefully he will be available,” Arteta said.
Tierney was named in Steve Clarke's squad for Scotland's World Cup qualifiers this month, and when asked if the left-back would be fit enough to feature for his national side, Arteta replied: “Let’s see in the next few training sessions. He’s done bits with the team but not fully trained yet, so in the next two days we’ll see where he is and how he’s feeling.”
Summer signing Nuno Tavares has impressed in Tierney's absence for Arsenal, and Arteta is hoping that there will now be an increased competition for places in his squad.
“Hopefully we can have more of those [selection] dilemmas and have top players performing at the top level in many positions because that raises the quality, standards and the performance of the team,” he added.
Arsenal could enter the international break as high as third place in the Premier League table (though their vastly inferior goal difference to the team above them makes this very unlikely).
The Gunners are unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions since being thrashed 5-0 by Manchester City back in August, stringing together a solid run of decent performances.
Source : 90min