Laurent Koscielny will not play at the weekend against Preston North End because of the cramps he picked up on Tuesday night but he was probably going to get a rest anyway.

Arsene Wenger confirmed after the 3-3 draw against Bournemouth that Koscielny was not seriously injured. “He was tired,” Wenger said, “he had cramps in both legs and that’s why I decided to take him off.”

Wenger then revealed that Kos had been carrying a problem since the Palace game but was unable to make many changes due to the fact we were playing just 48 hours later.

Gabriel also had a problem coming into the game but is expected to be fit enough to start against Preston alongside Rob Holding.

In addition, Wenger said that Hector Bellerin is also carrying a knock, adding, “He had a knock, he was uncertain to play.

“That’s the problem when you have only 48 hours, you have to play some players who come out of a game like Crystal Palace [with knocks].

“We had three or four players who we had to wait for the warm up to see if they could play.”