Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta has given an update about Thomas Partey’s fitness ahead of this weekend’s game against Burnley.
Thomas Partey made his long-awaited return to Premier League action last week, coming off the bench to feature against Norwich City, but sadly, it seems as though he’s not back to full fitness as of yet.
Indeed, Arteta says that the Ghanaian has been in and out of training this week, claiming that his load is still having to be managed.
What’s been said?
Arteta gave an update about Partey.
“He’s been training in and out this week. His load had to be managed because he was in the early stages of the injury, but he’s pushing everybody as always and he wants to be involved. We’ll see what’s best for him,” Arteta said.
Shouldn’t start
If Partey still isn’t 100 per cent fit, then he shouldn’t be starting against Burnley.
Albert Sambi Lokonga and Ainsley Maitland-Niles did a fine job against Norwich, and putting Partey in at this point would be a risk.
Not only may he be one step behind the play if he isn’t fully fit, throwing him in against a physical side like Burnley could be a recipe for disaster in terms of aggravating his injury.
We all want to see Partey back fit and firing as soon as possible, but things like this simply can’t be rushed.
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