Arsenal loanee Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand scored another goal for FC Den Bosch this weekend as he continues his journey to full fitness, finally getting a run of games going.

Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand made his sixth consecutive start for FC Den Bosch on Friday, playing 61 minutes and scoring a very nice finish as his team drew with NAC Breda.

Injuries have devastated the 20-year-old’s last few seasons, and it’s worth stressing the context of those six starts.

In Oulad M’Hand’s three seasons at Arsenal before 2023/24, he made a total of 26 appearances between the Premier League 2 and the EFL Trophy, broken down as follows:

• 2020/21: 3 appearances, 25 games missed through injury
• 2021/22: 21 appearances, 11 games missed through injury
• 2022/23: 2 appearances, 38 games missed through injury (25 missed for Hull City on loan, for whom he never played a match)

This season, Oulad M’Hand has played 17 times for Dutch side FC Den Bosch, whilst missing 20 games for the Arsenal u21s and Den Bosch through injury. His fitness problems clearly haven’t just disappeared.

But for the first time since October 2021, Oulad M’Hand has put together a run of six league starts, scoring two goals and assisting one in those six games.

Both in terms of form and fitness, this is the brightest the midfielder’s situation has looked for a long time.

Den Bosch have three more games until the end of their league season, so the aim should be to stay fit and start all three before taking the summer break to rest and prepare to go again.

You can watch Oulad M’Hand’s latest goal for Den Bosch here from the timestamp 1:04.