Martinelli adds to Arsenal's injury woes
LONDON (AP) - Arsenal's injury woes intensified when young forward Gabriel Martinelli was ruled out for 'œmonths'ť by manager Mikel Arteta on Tuesday.
Arteta said the Brazilian damaged his knee in training when he 'œgot hit by another player'ť in the last action of a practice session on Monday.
'œThe doctors are assessing the extent of the injury, but it's not looking good at all,'ť Arteta said. 'œWe don't know, but he's looking at months.'ť
Arsenal has already lost three players to in-game injuries since the restart of the Premier League - goalkeeper Bernd Leno, defender Pablo Mari and midfielder Granit Xhaka.
Leno was taken off on a stretcher during the 2-1 loss at Brighton on Saturday. Arsenal initially feared a very long absence, but the Germany international may only be out for up to six weeks.
'œWell we thought it was going to be a more significant injury,'ť Arteta said. 'œWe don't know the extent of the injury still but at least we know the cruciate ligaments are not damaged.
'œThat was the biggest fear at the start. He was more positive and in less pain today, so that's good news.'ť
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports