Arsenal already have the perfect solution to Bukayo Saka 's injury concerns already within their ranks, according to pundit Martin Keown.

The Gunners face a difficult period without their star player after Saka picked up a worrying hamstring injury last time out against Crystal Palace. The 23-year-old limped off the pitch in the first half and while the club are yet to confirm an exact date for the winger's return, there has been some suggestion he could be out until March.

Saka's injury comes at a crucial point in the season as Arsenal are currently third in the Premier League table, six points behind Liverpool who still have a game in hand. They are third in the Champions League and are among the favourites to qualify automatically for the knockout rounds, but there is still two matches to be played in the league phase.

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It's not the first time this season Mikel Arteta has had to manage without one of his most important players. Midfielder Martin Odegaard was sidelined for a period of time at the start of the campaign, but is now fit and firing for the club once again.

At just 17, Ethan Nwaneri has broken into Arsenal's first team at a remarkably young age. The attacking midfielder is yet to nail down a permanent position in Arteta's team, but has featured 16 times across all competitions so far this season.

Keown, who represented Arsenal as a player between 1993 and 2004, believes the youngster could be the ideal solution in Saka's absence, as he told talkSPORT : "I don't know of a player that has created more chances for his colleagues in the Premier League this season, so he's obviously going to be a really big miss. It's up to someone to step up, maybe [Ethan] Nwaneri, who has been playing in the [Martin] Odegaard role, maybe he could come in to the front line and give us something different.

"Jesus has suddenly scored five goals in a week, that's been a long time coming, so he needs to sustain that. But it's in that final third where there needed to be more creative and it could be less now as you're losing one of the best players in the Premier League."

Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Friday night with the visit of Ipswich Town. They will then face difficult away trips to both Brentford and Brighton at the beginning of January.