Gabriel Martinelli is set to undergo an MRI scan on Thursday after suffering a hamstring injury in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle, Mikel Arteta has confirmed.
The Gunners entered Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final trailing on aggregate and found themselves behind once again when Martinelli appeared to injure his hamstring.
The Brazilian forward immediately signaled to the bench before gingerly limping off the pitch.
Arsenal went on to lose the match 4-0 on aggregate, ending their hopes of securing silverware this season.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Arteta suggested the club’s situation could worsen depending on the severity of Martinelli’s injury.
Speaking post-match, Arteta said: “He felt something, I think it was his hamstring and he wasn’t comfortable to continue.
“So we will have to have any MRI scan tomorrow to see the extent of the injury.”
Losing Gabriel Martinelli for an extended period would be another significant blow for Arsenal, who are already missing their talisman, Bukayo Saka.
Gabriel Jesus is also sidelined for the rest of the season following an ACL injury sustained last month.
Despite the injuries to Saka and Jesus, the Gunners did not strengthen their forward options in January, despite speculation that they might.
However, they did make a bid for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins, which was quickly rejected by their Premier League rivals.
Goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon in either half were enough to condemn Arsenal to a defeat.
With a 10-day gap before their next match against Leicester City, Arsenal will fly to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp before returning to action later this month.
“We need to swallow this one, it’s a tough one,” Arteta admitted.
“We had a lot of expectations, we knew the difficulty of the task because of the result that we brought from London but there’s nothing we can do right now.
“What we could do is, we were on the pitch a few minutes ago, now we have to look forward.
“First of all I think this is going to be a painful one and while we are in Dubai, recharge and then go again because we have still a lot to play.”
Read more: Arne Slot confirms Liverpool’s flexible transfer plans for the summer
Alejandro Garnacho’s Napoli move collapsed due to wage demands
Tottenham’s new signings available for Carabao Cup semi-final clash against Liverpool
