Laurent Koscielny has given a positive injury update ahead of Arsenal’s pre-season clash against Chelsea at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Bejing.

Kos was sidelined for Arsenal’s match against Bayern Munich, which the Gunners won on penalties, with back pain but insists that he’s fine to play against Chelsea.

“My back is better,” the 31-year-old claimed during Arsenal’s pre-Chelsea press conference [via Arsenal.com].

“I had a little pain one morning, so I had treatment over the past two days. Today I trained and was OK. Not 100 per cent, but I’m OK for playing. We will see tomorrow. 

“We have worked well during this tour of Australia and China. We worked well physically, technically and tactically, and we have some friendly games to show what we’ve learned during our sessions. 

“The game [against Chelsea] is for this and we want to win because a win here would give us the confidence we need to play with freedom. I hope all our players are focused on the new season because we need to play to win our first game.”

The centre-back has been suffering with a reoccurring back problem since he first signed for Arsenal from Lorient in 2010. Although it’s unclear that this was exactly the same issue as he’s had to endure before, it’s still a concern.

Fortunately, while Kos could feature against Chelsea, it’s only a friendly and if he has to miss out in order to rest his back then it’s not the end of the world.

The France international will miss the opening two Premier League games of the new season against Leicester and Stoke through suspension, giving him another week or so of extra rest if Arsene Wenger reckons he needs it.