Sead Kolasinac has a ‘significant’ strain to his right shoulder joint, but it won’t require surgery and he could return sooner than we first expected.

Kolasinac won’t require surgery on his shoulder problem, according to reports. Mark Mann-Bryans claims the left-back picked up a significant strain to his right shoulder joint, but the hopes are he’ll return after the upcoming international break at the end of March.

This is obviously good news, given the alternative of shoulder dislocation and an absence as long as Kieran Tierney’s.

In the meantime, it still creates a bit of a problem. Someone has to play left-back until Tierney is back, and it can’t just be Bukayo Saka. Saka is already on a run of eight games without a rest, playing at least 45 minutes in all of them.

Presumably, Ainsley Maitland-Niles will fill in on Monday. The 22-year-old played 45 minutes at left-back for the u23s on Friday, which seemed like preparation to do the same for the first-team. He played there before under Unai Emery, of course.

Meanwhile, Tierney is back in full training, so we shouldn’t have to wait long for him now. The sooner he’s back and can rotate with Saka, the better.