Long-term Arsenal absentees Thomas Partey and Fabio Vieira have both resumed team training ahead of the Gunners' first-leg clash with Porto in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Neither man has taken to the field for Mikel Arteta's side this year, with Partey nursing a thigh concern which required surgery, while Vieira has been recuperating from a groin operation.
Partey has now passed the fourth-month mark without an appearance for the Gunners, having failed to travel to Sevilla for a Champions League group-stage tie back in October after hurting his thigh in training.
The Ghana international missed the Africa Cup of Nations after undergoing surgery, and his problem was described as the most significant injury he has faced in his career by former Black Stars boss Chris Hughton.
Partey was back in training with his teammates last month, but he was forced to take a step back owing to a complication, and his most recent outing for the Gunners came in their 1-0 win over Manchester City on October 8.
🚨| BREAKING: Thomas Partey is BACK in training with Arsenal. https://t.co/33jw6YIsFo pic.twitter.com/8zDJwDvXDs
— Connor Humm (@TikiTakaConnor) February 20, 2024
Meanwhile, Vieira has been in the infirmary since November due to a groin procedure and has not featured for Arteta's side since being sent off in the dying embers of their 3-1 win over Burnley on November 11.
However, Arteta revealed last week that the 23-year-old had a chance of making his comeback against his old club this week, and both he and Vieira have been spotted in full training with their teammates.
As is customary with European games, Arsenal allowed the press access to a portion of their training session at London Colney on Tuesday before they fly out to the Estadio do Dragao for Wednesday's clash, which Partey and Vieira seemingly have a strong chance of being involved in.
Arteta will face the media on Tuesday evening once Arsenal have touched down in Portugal, at which point the Spaniard will provide an update on the pair, but three other injury victims were nowhere to be seen in training.
All of Gabriel Jesus (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knock) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) were not put through their paces alongside their teammates, suggesting that Wednesday's first leg will come too soon for the trio.
🚨| BREAKING: Fábio Vieira is BACK in training with Arsenal. 🇵🇹✅ pic.twitter.com/w0UPDkvHKc
— Connor Humm (@TikiTakaConnor) February 20, 2024
Arsenal are unsurprisingly erring on the side of caution with Jesus and Zinchenko, the former of whom has already gone under the knife for knee injuries twice since joining from Manchester City in 2022 alongside the Ukrainian, who has a history of calf concerns.
Meanwhile, the versatile Tomiyasu - a standout performer for Arsenal in the first half of the season - played four times for Japan at the Asian Cup but has missed victories over West Ham United and Burnley with what Arteta previously described as a "niggle".
With Jurrien Timber also still on the long road to recovery from an ACL injury, Jakub Kiwior could make a third successive start at left-back for Arsenal against Porto, whom they are yet to beat at the Estadio do Dragao.
The Gunners last locked horns with the Dragons in the 2009-10 last-16 stage, losing 2-1 away from home before advancing to the quarter-finals thanks to a 5-0 triumph at the Emirates in the return fixture.
Arteta's men took 13 points to finish top of Group B this time around, one more than Porto amassed en route to a second-placed Group H ranking behind Barcelona, who edged the Portuguese side on head-to-head points.
Ben Knapton
