Arsenal go into their weekend FA Cup clash against Southampton with only four injuries – what is this?

Gradually, players are returning to action from long-term (Danny Welbeck) and not-so-long-term (Chuba Akpom) injuries and our squad is looking in considerably better shape than it did this time a couple of months ago.

So, who’s still out and for how long?

Santi Cazorla (ankle)

No one seems to know when the Spaniard will return to training, let alone to first team action following his second ankle surgery. Arsene Wenger pointed out last week that he’s not even running yet and won’t be back for six weeks at the very least.

Per Mertesacker (knee)

The centreback, who signed a one-year contract extension with Arsenal last week, has been back in training for a few weeks now and should return soon. However, he did recently pick up a slight calf injury, which has set him back a bit, so he probably won’t be available for Southampton.

Theo Walcott (calf)

Last week, Wenger said Theo was close to a return but not ready for Burnley, which means he probably won’t be ready for Southampton.

Mathieu Debuchy (hamstring)

The France international is still out with the hamstring injury he picked up after just 13 minutes on the pitch against Bournemouth in December. He was ruled out for a minimum of six weeks so he won’t be available for Southampton.