Sead Kolasinac had to withdraw from international duty with Bosnia and Herzegovina after picking up a back injury over the break.

Bosnian outlet Klix covered quotes from the national side’s head coach Robert Prosinecki on Sunday, as he told the media: “Sead Kolasinac has an injury to his back and we let him leave the preparations of the national team.”

This was subsequently confirmed as Kolasinac wasn’t involved in his country’s 3-0 win over Liechtenstein.

The Arsenal left-back got a fair amount of stick for his ‘disastrous‘ performance against Italy in a 3-0 defeat last Friday, as he was regularly caught out defensively for a whole host of chances for the away side.

Perhaps this performance was related to his injury, or perhaps the injury just gave Prosinecki a convenient excuse to send him back. Either way, it hasn’t exactly been a positive break for the 26-year-old.

It’s hard to predict whether it will be Kolasinac or Kieran Tierney in the starting lineup against Southampton on Saturday, as left-back is one of few positions where Unai Emery doesn’t seem to have a clear favourite.

We’ll have to wait for Arsenal’s update on this back injury though, as it’s possible the decision will be made for the head coach.