On-loan Arsenal midfielder James Olayinka is in contention to return from injury this weekend against Mansfield, according to a report.

The Evening Express report that 19-year-old James Olayinka is now stepping up his injury recovery from an ankle problem. The midfielder should be available for selection again, following rehabilitation with Arsenal.

The outlet claim Olayinka is now ‘back in contention’ for Northampton’s match against Mansfield Town on Saturday.

Initially, Olayinka’s loan debut looked very impressive. He helped his new team to a 3-0 win and picked up the Man-of-the-Match award at the end.

Particularly on the physical side, the loanee impressed his new manager. He won nine of his 11 individual duels and earned three free-kicks for his side. Defensively, he made five tackles and an interception.

Unfortunately, that came back to bite him, as he picked up a late injury. Boss Keith Curle initially suggested it was nothing serious, but Olayinka then had to return to Arsenal for treatment.

Just over a month later, it looks like the midfielder is close to a return.

Arsenal aren’t having much luck with injuries to their young loanees. First, it was Daniel Ballard suffering a six-month knee injury. William Saliba returned from a fitness issue of his own just before Olayinka’s setback.

Recently, Tyreece John-Jules ended his loan spell due to an injury. Konstantinos Mavropanos is on the verge of a comeback after a setback of his own and Henrikh Mkhitaryan is constantly in and out of the team for AS Roma. Some consistency now would be nice.