Ruud van Nistelrooy has confirmed that three of his injured PSV stars will be back in the squad against Arsenal, but not in the starting lineup.

PSV Eindhoven boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has been without Noni Madueke, Luuk de Jong, and Mauro Junior in recent weeks due to their respective injury problems.

Both Madueke and Mauro Junior are yet to feature at all this season, despite playing 35 and 40 times last campaign respectively. Meanwhile, de Jong has been absent with a calf problem since August.

Speaking to the media ahead of PSV’s match against Arsenal on Thursday night, van Nistelrooy confirmed all of them will be in his squad, but none of them will be starting.

“Of course for them three it’s the first time they are back after a long time,” van Nistelrooy said.

“For them, it’s good to build up making minutes and that’s what the plan is for tomorrow.

“It’s logical that those three players are on the bench because they are coming back from long injuries so it’s normal they are not starting and looking to make game minutes.”

Given none of the three will be starting, you wouldn’t expect the return of the PSV trio to have a major impact on Thursday’s game. Van Nistelrooy’s side have also been playing very well already, without any of the three involved.

But perhaps the comebacks could have more of an impact on the second leg, by which point they may well be ready to start.