🔗 Share this article Arteta Fears Injury Crisis Could Undermine The Gunners' Trophy Quest Mikel Arteta has voiced fears that his squad's pursuit for honors this season is being jeopardized by a concerning circle of fitness setbacks and a grueling schedule. Fresh Squad News Star player Declan Rice missed the midweek trip to face Club Brugge due to illness. Meanwhile, attacker Leandro Trossard and defender William Saliba are still unavailable. There was, on a brighter note, positive news regarding Gabriel Jesus, with the Brazilian forward added to their Champions League squad. He replaces the injured youngster Max Dowman, who suffered an ankle problem. "Training, no because we don't have time to train. But obviously the fact that you are missing players, you are placing demands on other players more, there's a knock-on effect to that and it's a really dangerous circle." Dowman's setback is the latest in a long series of fitness problems for the North London side. Since the start of last campaign, they have suffered 95 injuries, the second-highest total in the Premier League. Long-Term Absences Defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Gabriel Magalhães are not expected to be back until the new year. Midfielder Kai Havertz continues to recover from surgery and "requires more time," according to the boss. Arteta rejected the idea that training intensity were to blame, citing a lack of time for drills. He emphasized the strain on fit players, some of whom have featured over 150 matches in two seasons. Transfer Plans Despite a major off-season investment over £250 million, Arteta insisted the club is not planning to enter the winter transfer market. "At the moment we're just concentrating on bringing the players back and with luck it will be a question of weeks," he said. "It's clear how important those coming weeks are going to be." Next Challenge The squad experienced their initial defeat in 18 games at the hands of Aston Villa, reducing their advantage at the top of the league to two clear points. Attention now turns to the European stage, where a sixth group victory would virtually guarantee a top-eight finish. Forward Gabriel Martinelli could make history by finding the net in a fifth straight consecutive European fixture. "We are disappointed with the outcome, but we have to move forward," Martinelli stated. "It's not like all is going badly because we lost one game. So we remain united."