Arsenal 'confident Declan Rice has avoided hamstring injury'

By Andrew Delaney, Reporter | 23 January 2024

Arsenal are reportedly confident that Declan Rice has not suffered any serious damage to his hamstring after being taken off early in Saturday's win over Crystal Palace.

Declan Rice has reportedly avoided any lasting damage to his hamstring after being taken off in Arsenal's 5-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Arsenal's record signing was taken off with just under 20 minutes remaining after complaints of a tight hamstring at the weekend.

As the Gunners were already 3-0 up by that stage, Mikel Arteta would have felt more comfortable in protecting a player who very rarely misses a minute in the Premier League.

Rice has missed just 73 minutes of action in the league so far this season, having started every game in Arsenal's title push so far.

Much of that came when the 25-year-old was forced off at half time in the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur back in September.

After missing the EFL Cup win over Brentford in the days after that, Rice has been ever-present, with his only rest time coming on England duty, and when he started on the bench in their Champions League dead-rubber against PSV Eindhoven.

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice celebrates scoring against Manchester United on September 3, 2023 © Reuters

The Evening Standard claims that Arsenal are confident that the midfielder will be available to feature in their next outing at Nottingham Forest next week.

Rice will be assessed by the club's medical staff, but having been knocked out of the FA Cup earlier this month, the Arsenal squad have more time to rest and prepare ahead of their next league outing.

The club utilised this extended break by giving the players a day off on Monday after their recovery session post-match at the weekend.

That third-round cup defeat to Liverpool at the start of January means that Arsenal are not in action this weekend, and they do not face Forest until next Tuesday.

Rice's fitness is also paramount given that there is not much in reserve for Arteta to choose from in midfield at present.

Jorginho was the only other central-midfield option on the bench for the Gunners in the clash with Palace, with Fabio Vieira and Thomas Partey out injured, and Mohamed Elneny on international duty with Egypt.