William Saliba could be set for a frustrating spell for Arsenal on the sidelines after he suffered a minor hamstring injury at the end of the North London Derby. This could mean that he will miss the important clash with Manchester City at the start of February if he has not recovered in time.

Mikel Arteta gave varying responses before and after the game against Aston Villa. Before the match he made it appear less serious but asked after the game again in the post-match press conference there was more pessimism in his tone.

"Tomorrow, we will have more information. Tomorrow we will have another test on him and it will be more clear." Asked whether he was worried, Arteta replied: "Yeah, for sure. Especially with the numbers that we have in the squad and looking at our bench. Very worried."

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Arteta has used Thomas Partey at right-back and moved Jurrien Timber inside alongside Gabriel but defensive errors were punished in the draw with Aston Villa. The record with Partey there is poor. Asking Arteta after the game he dismissed the record and claimed he could not judge a performance on one player playing one position.

The player who would be the ideal replacement for Saliba is sadly also injured - Ben White. The England international underwent a knee procedure to correct a persistent problem which had been plaguing the full-back.

Speaking at the start of the year before the draw with Brighton, Arteta provided the last update on the defender and another option in Takehiro Tomiyasu. “Ben is still a few weeks away and Tomi again has done some stuff on the pitch but now because it’s been a long-term injury we need to see how quickly he can progress and how he reacts.

Pressed later on further in the same press conference whether White could return before the end of January, there was some potential reason for optimism provided by Arteta. “It might be a possibility but he hasn’t done anything with the team,” he said.

"The knee looks good, he’s reacted really well, and in the first few weeks, everything is going smoothly. Now we need to start the load and that means he needs to get through many more things that up to now he hasn't been able to do, but hopefully, it's good.

“His work ethic is unbelievable and naturally, he’s a really gifted player so I am very positive that we're going to have him quite early, but I don't know when.”

The level of misfortune suffered in terms of multiple injuries in similar positions has been startling. The window remains open but focus for recruits seems exclusive to the forward line with little encouragement that a defender will be signed.

Therefore the hope will be both that Saliba can hurry back while White’s recovery being complete before the month is out becomes a reality. The likelihood, based on the luck of the season, however, seems low.