After their respective absences for Arsenal on Saturday, Mikel Arteta has assessed Aaron Ramsdale and Gabriel Martinelli’s international break prospects.

Losing Aaron Ramsdale and Gabriel Martinelli ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa was obviously a disappointment for the team, but it was also a poorly-timed blow to the two players on an individual basis.

Ramsdale had just been called up to the England squad earlier this week. That’s nothing new, but there’s also been plenty of talk about him winning the number one spot.

Instead, Mikel Arteta confirms the goalkeeper will miss out on the break with a muscle injury.

“He won’t be able to play for England, yes,” Arteta said. “He wasn’t comfortable in the last minutes against Liverpool and we scanned him and he had a proper injury in his muscle. He wanted to be here.”

As for Martinelli, the Brazilian youngster had just received his very first Brazil senior call-up. The winger has obviously featured for Brazil at u23 level before, winning Olympic Gold over the summer, but this is his first senior opportunity.

In the days leading up to the game, Martinelli was struck down by illness (seemingly not Covid-19), hurting his chances of linking up with Brazil.

Arteta’s update on Martinelli was more positive though, suggesting there’s still a good chance he’ll be involved.

“Hopefully, yes,” Arteta responded on that possibility. “He was gutted not to be able to play today because he travelled to try and be with the team. He really deserves [the call up] so hopefully he can travel tomorrow (Sunday).”

After managing to grind out a 1-0 win without the pair, Arsenal will be hoping they make speedy recoveries to be available for the Crystal Palace game in a couple of weeks.