Takehiro Tomiyasu allayed fears of an injury by returning to action with Japan in midweek and earning praise for his performance.

Given Takehiro Tomiyasu’s injury history, some Arsenal fans were concerned when the Japanese international came off at half-time of Japan’s 4-1 win over Canada early in the October international break.

Japan were 3-0 up at the time, so it was understandable that Tomiyasu may just have been withdrawn to save him for a more competitive fixture in midweek.

That seemingly turned out to be the case, as Tomiyasu started and played the full 90 minutes of Japan’s 2-0 win over Tunisia on Tuesday.

The Tunisia match was another friendly, with Japan playing a run of friendlies recently as they prepare for World Cup qualifiers in November and the AFC Asian Cup in January.

For the sixth friendly in a row, Japan came out on the winning side, having beaten El Salvador, Peru, Germany, Turkey, and Canada in the previous five matches.

In all six cases, Japan won by two goals or more.

Tomiyasu’s individual performance against Tunisia earned him praise, with Goal Japan picking out his “overwhelming strength”, calling him a “defensive leader”, and highlighting his precise control of the defensive line.

The Arsenal defender will now return to his club ahead of Saturday’s game away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.