Arsenal handed double injury boost as squad for Dubai training camp confirmed

Bukayo Saka and Ben White have joined Arsenal's squad for their Dubai training camp as they step up their recoveries from injury. Saka has been recovering from a hamstring injury that he underwent surgery on in December while White has been absent since undergoing a procedure on his knee in November. In their absence, the Gunners have been knocked out of both the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. They have reached the last 16 of the Champions League and are still in the Premier League title race, but are only just clinging on to leaders Liverpool.

With no game in this weekend's fourth round of the FA Cup, Mikel Arteta has opted to take his side away to the Middle East for a warm weather training camp. They don't play again until 15 February, with a similar trip last year having transformed their season. Both Saka and White have been pictured walking out to Arsenal's plane for the trip on Thursday. The duo will continue their rehabilitation from their injuries while on the training camp.

Saka sustained his injury during the 5-1 victory over Crystal Palace on 21 December and is expected to return in March. White meanwhile last played on 10 November in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Arteta has also decided to include 15-year-old Max Dowman and 16-year-old Jack Porter in the travelling squad. Meanwhile Gabriel Martinelli also travelled, though he is set to undergo a scan after sustaining a suspected hamstring injury during the Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Newcastle.

Arsenal's next game comes in the visit to Leicester in the Premier League a week on Saturday. Arteta admitted after the defeat at St James' Park that he was looking forward to the chance to hand his squad somewhat of a break. "I wouldn’t like [to say that]. Especially when we lose a game, physically we were tired and you know we played so many games, we played so many games every three days," Arteta said on Wednesday.

"We knew that this was going to be a really high-intensity one. I think emotionally as well, it was a very different game that we needed to get there to believe right until the end that we could do it, and before that the game got away from us. "We need to swallow this one, it’s a tough one and we had a lot of expectations. We knew the difficulty of the task because of the result that we brought from London, but there’s nothing we can do right now.

"What we could do was on the pitch a few minutes ago. Now we have to look forward, first of all I think this is going to be a painful one, and when we’re in Dubai, recharge and go again because we still have a lot to play for.". Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.