Mikel Arteta admits he’s unsure whether William Saliba will feature again for Arsenal this season

Mikel Arteta has admitted he is unsure whether William Saliba will play again this season, which would be a huge blow to Arsenal’s title hopes.

Arteta confirmed on Thursday that the defender would miss Friday’s game with Southampton and remains a big doubt for next week’s crucial trip to title rivals Manchester City.

Saliba, 22, started in all of Arsenal’s Premier League games this season before hurting his back in last month’s Europa League defeat to Sporting.

In his absence, Arsenal have dropped points against Liverpool and West Ham. The club remains cautious about rushing him back, despite Saliba’s willingness to put his body on the line to compete in the title fight.

‘We have to wait a little longer. He’s not progressing as fast as we’d hoped. It’s a bit delicate and we want to be very sure that when we push him he is ready to take the burden and the risk that we will take and at the moment that is not possible,” said Arteta.

Mikel Arteta confirmed he still has no return date for the France international

“It’s a little early to know (if he’ll play again this season).

We will probably get more certainty next week. There is some evolution, he is doing more activity, but he is not there yet to throw him on the field at the level that the sessions require to compete in this competition.

Oleksandr Zinchenko has returned to training after missing last week’s draw at West Ham with a tight groin and Arsenal are hoping he will take on Saints as they try to get their title back on track.

“I see a sense of revenge and determination to get even better,” Arteta said. “This week I’ve had to hold them back because they want it more and more, so let’s leave it for (Southampton) – that’s when we need to show it.

“The way they talked, the way they communicated in the meetings we had. The discussions to understand how we move forward. They were all good answers – they were clear about what we want, how we’re going to do it and why it brought us all the way here.”

Arsenal head to the Etihad on Wednesday, knowing victory would take them a big step closer to a first title since 2004.

‘We have to be perfectionists, but at the same time we have to play with that flow. We don’t look over our shoulders. We look ahead, look into our job and what we can do.

“After seven games, we need a certain number of points to become champions. What you get is what you do every day, not what everyone else does.’

Oleksandr Zinchenko (left) returned to Arsenal training ahead of their clash with Southampton

The Spaniard also hit back at “unfair” criticism of his players after they were criticized for “ignoring” a young mascot ahead of the game against West Ham.

Arsenal came under fire after posting a video showing their players signing a shirt for eight-year-old Olivia Murray.

Arteta’s stars were accused of being “entitled, overpaid and rude,” but the girl’s father insisted the images were just a “tiny window” into her day.

And yesterday Arteta said, ‘You speak with (her) parents and they had a great day. You’ve just seen a fragment of a photo – what happened before and after no one saw and that’s not fair.’