Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus are both "very close" to returning from thigh and knee problems respectively, but the Spaniard could not guarantee their availability for Saturday's Premier League clash with Newcastle United.
Partey has now passed the four-month mark without an appearance for Arsenal, having sustained a severe thigh injury in October, which meant he could not represent Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 30-year-old was briefly back in team training last month, only to take a step back owing to a new complication, but he was pictured being put through his paces with his teammates before their Champions League last-16 first leg away to Porto.
Partey ultimately did not make the cut for that 1-0 loss to Sergio Conceicao's side, but speaking in Friday's pre-game press conference, Arteta offered a positive update on the midfielder's progress.
"Let's see. We have another session today and obviously he's been out for many, many months now and we need to really nail the timing and when he has enough in the tank to compete, but I think he's very close," Arteta said.
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While Partey was left at home in midweek, Fabio Vieira returned to the matchday squad following a groin operation, and Brazilian striker Jesus - who has been unavailable for the entire month due to a knee injury - is also on the cusp of returning.
However, defensive duo Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knock) still need more time to recover from their issues, while Jurrien Timber is still on the long road to recovery from August's ACL injury.
"It's the same with Gabby [Jesus] as well, he's done a few things. Alex [Zinchenko] is not far at all, and Tomiyasu is still a little bit more," Arteta added after providing the latest on Partey.
Timber will be the last player to exit the Arsenal infirmary, but the Dutchman was named in the Gunners' Champions League squad for the knockout stages, suggesting that he is on course to recover before the end of the season.
During their warm-weather Dubai training camp in January, Timber was seen working with the ball at his feet in individual training, and Arteta is keeping his fingers crossed that the 22-year-old will play again this term.
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"I really hope so, he's doing really well, he's been around some players on the pitch and we are going to start to do some bits with us in the next week or so," the Gunners boss said.
"Then we need to see how that evolves, his confidence levels, his fitness levels and hopefully then the answer is 'yes'. Obviously we have missed some big players and we still are but you have to adapt to that.
"Hopefully we want them back, we need them back as quickly as possible and we know the impact those players are going to have when we have the full squad back."
Arsenal sit third in the table ahead of the visit of Newcastle, who subjected the Gunners to an excruciating and controversial 1-0 loss at St James' Park in November, 10 months on from holding Arteta's men to a goalless draw at the Emirates in the 2022-23 season.
However, the Gunners enter the weekend on the back of winning their first five league games of a calendar year for the first time in their history, and they have not been beaten at the Emirates by the Magpies since 2010.
Ben Knapton
