Arsenal injury news: Sokratis ‘working to get back as soon as possible’ amid Unai Emery’s defensive crisis

The Greek defender is set to be out of action until the end of February

Tom Kershaw
Monday 28 January 2019 16:39 GMT
Comments
Unai Emery reacts to Arsenal injuries after Manchester United defeat

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Arsenal centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos says he is “working to get back as soon as possible” after hobbling off with an ankle injury in Arsenal’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.

The Greek international took to Instagram to post a picture of himself at home using a recovery machine.

Sokratis sustained the injury in an aerial collision with Jesse Lingard during the defeat.

Unai Emery initially had played down initial concerns over Sokratis’ injury, saying: “I think they weren’t big injuries for Sokratis [his ankle]. Maybe Laurent Koscielny is going to hospital to [analyse] what injury he has. Maybe he’s broken [his cheek or jaw] but I hope not.”

However, the club later confirmed the defender is now expected to be out of action for a month and will miss fixtures against Cardiff, Manchester City, Huddersfield, Southampton and Bournemouth.

The news comes amid a defensive crisis at the club with Laurent Koscielny, Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding also currently injured.

Koscielny was originally feared to have suffered a broken jaw after accidentally being kicked by Romelu Lukaku, but although there is “bruising and soft tissue swelling” to the club captain’s face, it’s hoped he will be able to return sooner.

One player who is ready to return to the squad is Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who Emery confirmed has now been “integrated back into full training”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in