What can I do? Arteta announces absence of Arsenal duo for Lille clash

Double blow for Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has confirmed Arsenal will be without two players for Tuesday night's Champions League clash with Lille at the Emirates Stadium, in the second round of the competition's first phase.

Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi both sat out training, picking up injuries in an extra session staged after Arsenal's 2-1 win over Leeds last Saturday. A double blow for the Spaniard.

Speaking on Monday, as reported by English newspaper "Daily Mail", Arteta said: "We had planned a training session after the match for the players who had not had enough minutes. And in two very unfortunate incidents we lost two players."

He added: "This is not the ideal situation at all. This has never happened in seven years. We need to assess their condition today and carry out more tests to find out where they stand, and after that we will be able to determine how long they will be out."

Could anything have been done to avoid the injuries? "It is very simple, don't train," he replied. "If they never train they will not get injured, but the consequence of that is that when they are asked to play, they will have no rhythm, and when you ask them to play they will have no impact on the match."

The Arsenal boss continued: "What am I supposed to do? If I had a crystal ball I would simply say: 'Lads, get in the jacuzzi and I'll see you tomorrow.'"

Optimism remains, though, about Arsenal's hopes in Europe this season. "I think we are very happy to be taking part in the Champions League again," Arteta said. "We want to maintain the momentum, we put in a great performance in the Champions League last year."

His final word: "It is an opportunity for us once again to attack the Champions League."