Mikel Arteta has Jurrien Timber alternative available again as Arsenal sweat on star's fitness

Arsenal defender Jurrien Timber is a doubt for Saturday's match with Southampton, but the Gunners could have a familiar face to call upon to replace him

As they gear up to Saturday's clash with Southampton, there is a key concern on the mind of everyone at Arsenal - the fitness of Jurrien Timber.

The Dutch full back has been in sublime form recently, making up for lost time after missing a year with an ACL injury. This continued on Tuesday night as he had a superb first half against PSG, keeping Bradley Barcola quiet. Unfortunately though, his evening came to a premature end.

"He was unbelievable in the first half, but he felt something muscular and he wasn't certain," Mikel Arteta said after the game. "So I didn't want to take any risks. He's been out for a year and he's played a lot of minutes, probably more minutes than we would have wanted in the past few weeks and we have to manage him."

With Ben White out due to an ongoing groin problem, this presented something of a problem for Arsenal at right back. They were able to fill it on the night by flipping Riccardo Calafiori over from the left and bringing on Jakub Kiwior to cover the position vacated by the Italian. While Calafiori did a good job, to ask him to repeat the feat from the off against Southampton would be far from ideal.

Arsenal do have the option of moving Thomas Partey out to right back if needs be. The Ghanaian has not always been at his best when playing the role in the past though.

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18-year-old Josh Nichols has also been training with the first team, and made his debut against Bolton in the Carabao Cup. Stepping up the Premier League is a much bigger task though.

With so many players missing, Arteta will be delighted by the timely return of Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Japanese international returned to training this week, and took part in a full session on Thursday. He has been out since July with knee and calf problems, but the Japan international's versatility will be a welcome addition to the Arsenal back line.

Given Tomiyasu's struggles in the past, Arteta will be wary of throwing him back in the deep end too soon after around three months out. With so many right back options missing though, the 25-year-old's comeback could not have been much better timed.

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