James Olayinka is back in training with Arsenal, following the injury he picked up against the Chelsea u21s last month.

Arsenal 21-year-old James Olayinka appeared in many of the first-team training photos on Wednesday, as he makes his return from injury.

The midfielder posted on his Instagram story that it’s “good to be back” following an absence of a little over a month.

Olayinka last featured in the EFL Trophy Round-of-16 match against Chelsea, and he gave the Arsenal u21s the lead with a clever redirected finish in the early stages.

Not long after that, he suffered a bit of a freak injury whilst blocking a shot. The problem immediately seemed to be serious, with Olayinka clearly in a lot of pain, and he was quickly substituted.

Given those circumstances and Olayinka’s injury history, getting him back before March is a positive update.

His previous loan spells with Northampton Town and Southend United were pretty heavily disrupted by injuries.

The obvious downside of the timing of the absence is that it prevented any realistic hope of Olayinka going out on loan again.

Having only made five academy starts this season and spending time out injured for most of the January transfer window, it was always going to be tough to attract interest.

Olayinka will instead have to focus on helping the u23s get back in the hunt for the Premier League 2 title. From the looks of things, he’s also going to get some chances with the first team when possible.