Omar Rekik has suffered a muscle injury shortly before the announcement of Tunisia’s World Cup squad, according to a report.

Jeorge Bird writes that Arsenal loanee Omar Rekik has suffered a muscle injury with Sparta Rotterdam, explaining his absence from recent matches with the club.

Rekik had featured as a substitute in three consecutive games for his loan side, albeit briefly in the dying minutes of each match.

But the centre-back missed out on Sparta’s cup game against OFC Oostzaan last Thursday, then their league game against Utrecht on Sunday, thanks to his injury setback.

The concern now is that he’ll be unavailable and out of match practice by the time the World Cup squad call-ups come around for Tunisia.

Rekik was in the Tunisia squad for their games against Comoros and Brazil in September, but he didn’t make it onto the pitch, and he’s only played 15 minutes or so in the Eredivisie with Sparta Rotterdam.

Seemingly in response to his latest setback, Rekik posted on Instagram to say “tough times don’t last, tough people do”.

That’s certainly the mentality Rekik needs to adopt now, to fight his way back to fitness and into the Sparta team over the coming months.

Arsenal will likely be considering a January recall at this point, but there’s still time for that to change.