HUGE BOOST: Arsenal receive Takehiro Tomiyasu injury update amid Jurrien Timber timeline.

Takehiro Tomiyasu of Arsenal warms up prior to a game.

BOOST . Arsenal receive Takehiro Tomiyasu injury update amid Jurrien Timber timeline.

Injury analyst Ben Dinnery has delivered an update on Arsenal star Takehiro Tomiyasu following the versatile defender’s recent calf issue. Tomiyasu was forced off in the second half of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Wolves, with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta remaining hopeful regarding a swift return to action.

However, the Spaniard revealed earlier this week that the 25-year-old’s prognosis was worse than initially hoped. football.london understands that the Japanese international is now facing four to six weeks on the sidelines, although there is some hope that he could be back before then if his rehab progresses positively.

It isn’t the first time that he has suffered from calf issues either. In fact, Tomiyasu injured both of his calves during the 2021/22 campaign whilst also suffering from problems in that area during his time with Bologna, as per Transfermarkt.

When asked if the talented full-back is likely to face similar injuries in the future, injury expert Dinnery told football.london, on behalf of stocklytics.com: “In terms of injury incidents and setbacks, we have two major red flags. History. When you suffer a hamstring problem or if you have recurring calf problems, then you are more susceptible and are more prone to that.

“Secondly, fatigue. When the games are coming thick and fast and we’ve seen with Ben White, who has been carrying an ongoing niggle in recent times and maybe that has restricted his amount of minutes and maybe placed more of the onus on Tomiyasu when Mikel Arteta maybe would have preferred to rest him in some cases.”

He continued: “The number of calf problems that we have seen with Tomiyasu is enough to make you aware that players need to be managed in different ways. It’s understanding what are the limitations of Tomiyasu and what needs to be done off the pitch to try and maintain the levels on the pitch.

“Yes, unfortunately, it’s another setback but he has come back and shown in those performances what an asset he is to the team. Sometimes in football, we always forget that there are elements of luck and sometimes you are just a little bit unfortunate and you need to manage the situation and mitigate the risk as best you can.”

Tomiyasu isn’t the only Arsenal defender who is currently sidelined due to injury. Summer signing Jurrien Timber has been out of action since injuring his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on his Premier League debut back in August.

Dinnery has also given an update on the Dutchman’s ongoing rehabilitation process, admitting that it is difficult to give an exact timeline due to the complicated nature of the injury. Discussing Timber, Dinnery said: “Typical return to play time for ACL reconstructive surgery is in and around nine months, typically.

“Now, that’s not to say that that timeline cannot be expedited. There have been lots of examples where players have returned prior to that. Typically what you would say is if a player is returning within that nine period then the injury has been isolated to the ACL itself.

“A lot of the time, particularly, contact injuries, there are maybe secondary injuries in and around that. Maybe meniscal damage or maybe MCL, (medial collateral ligament). So, the good news is with Jurrien Timber it could be that that ACL injury is just in isolation which can pace that return to play timeline.”

Dinnery also spoke about tempering expectations regarding the 22-year-old’s return, admitting that a return to action doesn’t necessarily mean a return to pre-injury form. He continued: “Certain research will suggest that any return before nine months will place that player at an increased risk of re-injury or recurrence. So, there’s going to be a judgement call or certainly a discussion around the potential return to play of a player within that time period.

“Once that nine-month period has passed, some research will indicate that the risk of re-injury and reoccurrence will reduce by around about 51% month on month. Is it possible that Timber will return this season? Absolutely, that is not out of the bounds of possibility.

“[But] we need to differentiate here between what we consider a return to play and a return to performance because ultimately that is what we all really want. We want that player to return back to those pre-injury levels.

“Usually, from what we have seen is that first 12-month period, that is a player that is acclimating to the return and the rigours of football, in particular the Premier League. It is maybe that 12-24 month period where we start to see a more consistent performance at optimum levels.”