Martinelli injury: Arsenal winger to undergo scan after being forced off in defeat to Newcastle | OneFootball

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Martinelli will undergo a scan on the hamstring injury which forced him off in the defeat to Newcastle.

Newcastle progressed to the Carabao Cup final with a 4-0 aggregate semi-final win over the Gunners.

Goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon handed the Magpies victory at St James Park following their first-leg win at the Emirates.

But the result was not the only blow Arsenal were dealt, with Martinelli needing to be substituted off before half-time.

And Arteta admits he is concerned about the injury.

“He felt something, I think it was his hamstring and he wasn’t comfortable to continue,” Arteta explained.

“So we will have to have any MRI scan tomorrow to see the extent of the injury.”

An injury to Martinelli would leave Arsenal with just four fit first-team attackers in the squad in Kai Havertz, Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling.

Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus remain out for the long-term with injury, with Saka not expected back until March and Jesus out for the remainder of the season with an ACL injury.

The Gunners tried to bring in attacking reinforcements in the January transfer window but were ultimately unsuccessful in their attempts.

That included having a bid turned down by Aston Villa for striker Ollie Watkins.

Asked about not bringing in a striker ahead of the game against Newcastle, Arteta said: “We had a clear intention. We haven’t achieved it. So we are disappointed.

“But we are aware that we only want to bring certain types of players, so we have to be disciplined. We couldn’t do it for certain reasons and we have to expect that, it was a combination of things.

“It is reality, we have the players that we have, we have never had a squad of 35, 40, 45 players. Other clubs have this but we do not. We have to evolve and have more players from the academy and the ones that are here have to be fitter longer.”