Bukayo Saka injury scare confirmed by Mikel Arteta as Arsenal count cost of hectic winter schedule

Arteta started with Saka on the bench for their 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest but turned to the forward just after the hour mark. The Arsenal manager also threw on Gabriel Jesus, Eberechi Eze, Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino in the second half of the match but his team could not find a way past Matz Sels in the Nottingham Forest goal.

The draw means Arsenal failed to fully capitalise on Manchester City's defeat to United earlier in the day and could even see their lead at the top of the table cut to four points if Aston Villa beat Everton at Villa Park on Sunday.

Arteta admitted his team had created enough chances to win, telling reporters: "We came here to win the game, that's clear, and we needed the opportunities that we had. We haven't managed that, so the word is disappointment. We haven't conceded anything, any single shot again and generated four massive chances with Martinelli with an open goal, with Declan Rice, Merino and then Bukayo Saka's header with an unbelievable save, and on top of that, a very clear penalty as well that has not been given.

"So after that, it’s pretty difficult for us because it's a team that is very well organised and very difficult to generate a lot of momentum throughout the game, so it's disappointing. You need [to take chances], especially to open them up, especially the way that they played. We tried in many ways, we made changes, we tried to have more people in the last line, to have very creative players in and around the box. When you get into those moments, you have to make it happen if you want to win and we didn’t manage to get it done."

Arteta also spoke about Saka and his decision to start him on the bench after the draw. He said: "Bukayo had a lot of minutes and he had a niggle before the game so we need to manage our players. We have some fantastic players that can provide different things and we did try it from the beginning, we tried after half-time as well, taking more risks and bringing in even more players in those attacking options. We tried in every way and it wasn't enough unfortunately."

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