Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted to being dissapointed with the injury setbacks frustrating midfielder Thomas Partey at Arsenal.

Speaking ahead of the Gunners’crunch Premier League fixture against Liverpool on Sunday, Arteta confirmed that the Ghana international will not be involved after he felt pain in the same area and will be out for a ‘few days’.

Asked on Partey’s condition of not being able to stay fit, Arteta said: “It’s a big concern because he’s such an important player for us and he was getting some momentum at the start of the season and then we lost him for a while. now it’s been a long time without him and he gives us something very different that no other player can give us in the squad. he’s been a real miss.”

On why the injuries happen, Arteta explained: “They’ve been different kind of injuries. Not everything is about luck but there are a lot of things that are very difficult to control as well. The player has a history where he had some issues in the past but we have to try to protect him and do everything that we can to try to avoid it again.”

On why he will miss Liverpool game, he said: “With Thomas, unfortunately, we had a little setback a few days ago, so he’s not going to be available to be in the squad. Whether that’s a matter of days or weeks, we’ll see but he had a little thing.

“I’m not a doctor but I’ll try to [explain]! He felt something again in a very similar area and he wasn’t able to train the last few days.”