Arteta provides injury update on Arsenal star Smith-Rowe

The 20-year-old midfielder had to come off before half-time with an injury during Arsenal’s victory at Leicester City.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed Emile Smith Rowe suffered a muscular injury in the 3-1 win over Leicester City and hopes it’s not too serious.

Smith Rowe made his 11th Premier League start of the season on Saturday’s trip to the King Power Stadium. But he only lasted until the 42nd-minute of the match before Arteta had to replace him with Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard.

“It was a muscular injury,” Arteta told BT Sport on Smith-Rowe.

“He wasn’t feeling very comfortable to carry on playing, so we decided to take him out. Hopefully, it’s not too much.”

"I'm really proud of the team and the character we showed."

"The senior players have to drive the boat forward, it can't be the other way around."

Mikel Arteta spoke to @ReshminTV after his side claimed an impressive win away at Leicester City. pic.twitter.com/xZ8PH2LufC

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 28, 2021

Despite Youri Tielemans handing Leicester a sixth-minute lead, Arsenal fought back to claim a superb 3-1 win. David Luiz equalized from a Willian free-kick before Alexandre Lacazette scored a penalty moments before half-time.

Nicolas Pepe then stepped up to tap in a third goal to seal back-to-back wins for the Gunners following their 3-2 Europa League win over Benfica on Thursday.

“I’m really proud of the team,” Arteta said on the comeback win.

“The character we showed, the personality we played, and how we reacted to a disappointing start again because it puts this team in the worst scenario.

“Then we looked composed, confident. The energy and the positiveness around the team was really good. We created some good moments and scored some good goals.”

“I think overall, we just had to win.”

Arsenal will now prepare for a trip to Burnley next weekend in the Premier League.