Declan Rice injury update ahead of Brighton vs Arsenal

Mikel Arteta is hopeful that Declan Rice will be able to feature when Arsenal travel to Brighton in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Rice produced another influential display for the Gunners at the weekend as they restored their five-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-1 win over Chelsea.

The England midfielder provided the vital assist for Jurrien Timber’s match-winning header in the second half to make it back-to-back wins for Arteta’s side against their London rivals.

However, there was some concern in the second half when Rice appeared to strain a muscle while racing back to snuff out a counterattack.

The 27-year-old soldiered on until the 76th minute when he was replaced by Christian Norgaard.

Arteta confirmed post-match that Rice would undergo checks ahead of a quick turnaround before Wednesday’s midweek clash with Brighton.

And asked for an update on the midfielder in his pre-match press conference, the Spaniard said: ‘He was much better today. Hopefully he’s going to be better tomorrow.’

After making a cameo appearance in the north London derby, Martin Odegaard missed the win over Chelsea as he continues to manage a knee problem.

And Arteta confirmed that the Arsenal skipper and Kai Havertz, who played his first minutes off the bench against Chelsea after a four-match absence, both face further assessment ahead of Brighton.

‘Kai, he’s done a part of the session, so we’ll wait and see if he is okay,’ Arteta said. ‘Martin is the other one, we’ll see.’

Ben White remains unavailable with an unspecified knock, while Mikel Merino is out with a longer-term issue.

Max Dowman made an appearance for Arsenal’s Under-21 side last week, his first minutes since suffering an ankle injury in December.

More to follow…