Mikel Arteta delivers promising Declan Rice injury update amid Kieran Tierney admission

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Declan Rice is in contention to start for Arsenal against Sporting CP in the Champions League.

The Gunners travel to Lisbon to face the Portuguese champions on Tuesday night and are guaranteed to be without Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu as the pair nurse respective knee injuries.

Rice had been a doubt for the game after being left on the bench during Saturday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Arteta has confirmed that he should be available to start the game though having travelled to Lisbon.

“Everybody in the squad is fully fit and available to start the game," he said.

Arteta will also be able to call upon Kieran Tierney for the first time in almost two years. The Scottish international returned to training earlier this month and is part of the squad who travelled to Lisbon.

Tierney is firmly down the pecking order given Arsenal’s strength in depth at left back. Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Myles Lewis-Skelly are all options in the 27-year-old’s preferred left back position, but Arteta has insisted that he is still delighted to have Tierney available.

"We have Kieran Tierney after a long injury, it’s great news that he’s back," the Spaniard said. "He’s been training with the team and he’s at the level to participate."

Arsenal will look to secure just their second away European victory in nine matches when they take on Sporting on Tuesday night. The Gunners are yet to score on the road in the Champions League this season and Arteta has insisted his side must improve if they are to be successful in this season's competition.

"I wouldn’t say that this is the most important thing but the efficiency that we have shown inside the box at this level with the chances that we are normally able to generate in the Champions League level, is not at the level required to win consistently," he said.

"I always say the champions league is about boxes, small margins and details. You have to get all of those right to win, especially away from home."

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