Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has provided an injury update while still working on ankle ligament damage recovery.

Following the last international break in concerning signals for Gunners supporters, the midfielder limped off in the second half of his nation’s 2-1 victory over Austria in the Nations League hasn’t played since.

Scans showed Odegaard had “significant” ligament damage and will be absent for a prolonged length of time.

The club has stayed silent about offering a return schedule, but Odegaard has given fans some encouraging news.

Commenting on the Arsenal matchday programme ahead of Sunday’s triumph over Southampton, Odegaard said: “I simply wanted to start with the latest on my injuries and recuperation. Over the past week or two, I have made really significant improvement.

 

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has delivered an update on his return from an ankle injury

‘I’m getting better and better by the day and feel it’s going well. When you feel like things are moving forward, it gives you motivation to do more and more and work harder.

‘Today is our last game before another international break, so that gives me some more time to work on the rehab too.

‘Hopefully, it won’t be much longer; I think we will know more as soon as I get out on the training pitches and we see how my ankle responds to that.

‘At the moment it’s progressing well and it looks better than we were thinking, but we’ve still got to take every day as it comes.’

Arsenal have performed well in the absence of their skipper with five wins and two draws in the seven matches he has missed.

Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the Saints saw them head into the international break just one point behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.

The visiting side took a shock lead in the second half but the Gunners hit back through goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.

On overseas service with Norway last month, Odegaard suffered ankle ligament damage.

Speaking following the game, manager Mikel Arteta was obviously delighted with his team’s performance.

“First half I thought it was outstanding,” he remarked. Our counter-press performed quite effectively in the places we were playing, the degree of dominance we had in those areas, the number of scenarios and opportunities we generated in open play and set pieces. We hardly should have missed a goal.

Then we began the second half; we were a little messy, particularly in the first five to ten minutes with the ball, and the game then became a little more open.

‘then the chance they had, they scored the goal, and so once more, we have thrown away what we did in the first half. Big belief, very good clarity in what we wanted to achieve; it was a totally brand-new game in an extremely challenging environment and the squad responded really well with great poise. The audience was outstanding; the subs were outstanding as well, and we managed to win once more.