Arsenal and Scotland left-back Kieran Tierney is a doubt for the Gunners’ North London derby clash on Saturday lunchtime.
That is according to injury expert Ben Dinnery, who was speaking on the Premier FPL Injuries YouTube channel ahead of this weekend’s upcoming Premier League fixtures.
Tierney suffered a concussion in Scotland’s 2-1 Nations League victory over Republic of Ireland last weekend and has since been sent back to Arsenal following the blow.
The 25-year-old will be missing the Tartan Army’s huge clash with Ukraine tonight – with the Scots only needing a point to secure promotion in the Nations League – suggesting that the former Celtic man is in no fit state to play for his club at present.
But Dinnery says that should Tierney come through the concussion protocol stages symptom-free, he should be available for the visit of Antonio Conte’s side this weekend.
He said: “Kieran Tierney took a whack to the head against Republic of Ireland on Saturday – even replaced as a precautionary measure.
“He was subsequently assessed post-match and released from that Scotland squad.
“Now, Scotland are playing Ukraine in that Nations League decider so it is a competitive match, so the fact that he has been released maybe is a slight indication that the injury’s a little bit more severe than initially thought.
“Certainly, that whack to the head – it could be that he may be following concussion protocol.
“But just to reiterate, that if he does come through those various stages of that concussion protocol symptom-free, then he will be okay for that North London derby.”
TIF Thoughts on Dinnery’s comments…
We believe that Arsenal fans will be hopeful that the luckless Tierney will be available to at least be part of the matchday squad, with Dinnery’s update suggesting that there is a possibility that this could be the case.
It’s been a tough season for the 34-time Scotland international so far, with the Douglas-born left-back having to compete with £32m summer signing Oleksandr Zinchenko for a spot in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI.
However, the Scotsman has performed when called upon by the Gunners, with the club winning every match that he has started from the off, helping the north London side to top spot in the Premier League after seven games.
And with Zinchenko still not being 100% certain to be fit for Saturday’s derby himself, we think that Arsenal fans will be praying on Tierney’s fitness for the weekend.