Mikel Arteta gives Kai Havertz injury update | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has offered a cautiously positive update on Kai Havertz as Arsenal prepare for their FA Cup third-round trip to Portsmouth, while confirming that Riccardo Calafiori remains unavailable.

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Havertz has not featured since the opening day of the season, though he returned to the matchday squad as an unused substitute during the 4-1 win over Aston Villa last month only to vanish again.

Arteta indicated that the German is now close to a competitive return, suggesting the weekend visit to Fratton Park may come into contention.

“If everything goes well, I think he’s going to be in the squad again in the next few days,” Arteta said. “He trains well, he’s increased his load, he’s coping with that really well and he will be ready when we can have him.”

The same optimism does not yet apply to Calafiori, who has not played since suffering an injury during the warm-up against Brighton.

Arteta ruled the Italian out of the FA Cup tie, adding: “I don’t think so. I think that game is going to be too early for him.”

There is also no update Piero Hincapie.

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The defender was taken off in the second half of the game against Arsenal with what appeared to be a hamstring issue in his right leg.

The club were said to be waiting for scans to determine the extent of the damage but it was likely he would have been on the bench for the FA Cup with Myles Lewis-Skelly coming into the side in his place.