Arsenal’s injury briefing on Wednesday had a rare note of relief about it after a week in which Mikel Arteta had lost two players in the same training session.

“Zubi is much, much better,” Arteta told reporters at his pre-match press conference.

“We have to see the moment he goes on that pitch, how he deals with the pain.”

Zubimendi picked up the ankle problem in the warm-down after Saturday’s Premier League win at Leeds United, missing Tuesday evening’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Lille. Arteta had chosen not to risk the Spain international against the French side, and his availability at the City Ground on Sunday now looks a question of how he gets through the final sessions this week.

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Hincapie faces a longer absence

Piero Hincapie was hurt in the same session and has not come through it anywhere near as well. The Ecuador defender has an ankle injury and is set for weeks on the sidelines, with Arteta reluctant to pin down a precise return date.

“Piero is improving but it looks more significant,” Arteta said. “I think it will be a matter of weeks but we don’t know exactly how many.”

The 4 November Champions League trip to Slavia Prague is the current working target for Hincapie, though Arteta was careful not to make it a deadline.

Tzolis out, Saka back

Christos Tzolis is also unavailable after a hamstring injury suffered on international duty with Greece. Arteta described it as a muscle problem and said the winger would be out for “a few weeks,” which rules him out of Forest and most likely out of the home game against Everton on 24 October.

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William Saliba, sidelined since the start of the season with a back problem, is further off still. The France defender has returned to light grass training but is not expected back until December.

The news on Bukayo Saka was far better. The England winger came through an illness in time to make a cameo off the bench at Lille, having started that match on the bench after not feeling well in the days before.

‘A beautiful challenge’ at the City Ground

Arteta described Sunday’s trip to Nottingham as “a beautiful challenge”, a nod to the fixtures these sides have produced in recent seasons. Oliver Glasner’s Forest, who have taken no goals from their past four home games this season and lost 3-1 at Crystal Palace last weekend, remain a tough proposition at the City Ground.

Arteta himself signed a new Arsenal deal earlier this month.

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Kick-off at the City Ground is at 4:30pm local time on Sunday.

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