Unai Emery took part in Arsenal’s training session on Wednesday as an outfielder, making up the numbers for the senior side.

Thanks to the international break, Arsenal’s first-team squad weren’t at full capacity in training this week. Usually, you could rely on youth players to step up and fill the gaps for the session, but the Gunners’ academy is doing so well that most of those players are away with the England, Northern Ireland and Wales youth teams anyway.

Those who didn’t get a call-up, like Charlie Gilmour, Julio Pleguezuelo, Zech Medley, Nathan Tormey, Tobi Omole and Dominic Thompson, joined in with the first-team session. However, that clearly wasn’t enough, as Emery himself joined in:

Unai Emery 1
Unai Emery takes on Ainsley Maitland-Niles / Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Unai Emery 2
Mesut Özil and Matteo Guendouzi prepare to challenge the boss / Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Unai Emery 3
Unai Emery tries the shoulder drop on Mesut Özil / Arsenal FC via Getty Images

As long as the players keep their fitness levels up ahead of next Monday’s clash with Leicester, it probably doesn’t really matter who they’re playing against. Obviously, they’ll have the chance to play a proper competitive first-team session this weekend with the players returning from international duty.

In fact, Arsenal have been treated rather kindly after the break, as the squad have from Wednesday until Monday to recover from their travels. That does mean a busy week after that though, with Leicester on Monday, Sporting Lisbon away on Thursday and Crystal Palace away on Sunday. Let’s hope they can cope.