Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that Danny Welbeck should be back available for selection in December.
Welbeck suffered a second serious knee injury in the space of a year towards the end of last season, ruling him out of Euro 2016 and the opening months of the new Premier League season.
However, Wenger revealed that the injury is healing well and expects to have the striker back at around Christmas time - some four months earlier than it might have been.
"He has an inflammation of his knee and they had to go in again to see if it is healing well or not," Wenger told reporters.
"If the healing was not good, he would have been out until April. The news was excellent and he will be back around Christmas. He had a second check, not a procedure, a check with a camera inside.
"That was the good news of last week, the only good news. That was very positive."
Welbeck managed just seven Premier League starts for the Gunners last season, scoring four goals.
Barney Corkhill
