Arteta hopeful Tierney’s season isn’t over
MIKEL ARTETA remains hopeful Kieran Tierney will play for Arsenal again this season, but is unsure whether the Scotland left-back will be able to or not.
Tierney is set to be out for six weeks after suffering knee ligament damage against Liverpool on Saturday, not only seeing him miss most of the rest of Arsenal’s season but also putting him in a race against time to be fit to feature at the European Championship in June.
The 23-year-old, who has been one of the Gunners’ most consistent players this term, will be missed against Slavia Prague in tonight’s European quarterfinal, first leg at the Emirates Stadium but could return for the final Premier League game of the season against Brighton on May 23, with the Europa League final three days later.
Arsenal boss Arteta said: ‘We have to first make sure he doesn’t need surgery, which it doesn’t look like. If that’s the case, the timeframe will be around [six weeks]. It’s not the bad news that maybe we were expecting after the game.’
Asked if Tierney will play again this season, Arteta replied: ‘I don’t know.’
Meanwhile, Gunners winger Willian has called for action after receiving online abuse. The club have launched a #StopOnlineAbuse campaign and Willian said: ‘We have to find a way to change the profile of social media.
‘I think people who want to have Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, they need to put their ID. Then when these things happen, we can catch them.’