ARSENAL gave two first team players some much-needed minutes in a behind-closed-doors 4-0 friendly defeat to QPR today.
The Gunners are making the most of the break to give those who are not on international duty a chance to get up to full speed ahead of the season run-in and title charge.
SunSport understands that Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu were involved. Partey got 60 minutes under his belt while Tomiyasu played for 45 minutes.
But, Jurrien Timber did NOT feature as he continues his rehab from ACL surgery.
The game took place at one of QPR’s training pitches, and mainly featured a lot of Arsenal U21s with a chance to impress Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal had not played since their penalty shoot-out victory over Porto on March 12 to reach the Champions League quarter finals, and next up face Manchester City on March 31.
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Partey made his official comeback off the bench on March 4 against Sheffield United having been out for five months following thigh surgery in October.
Before that, the Ghanaian had been on the pitch for just 30 minutes since August.
Partey also played the final few minutes of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Brentford on March 9 as he is eased back into regular football.
Boss Arteta will hope Partey can play a big role with just 10 league games left as they sit atop the Premier League, as well as a Champions League quarter final next month.
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Tomiyasu has also had his injury woes this season, struggling with a calf problem that means the Japanese international is yet to play for Arsenal this calendar year.
But after signing a new two-year deal – with the option of another 12 months – this week, Tomiyasu got game time against QPR.
The return of Tomiyasu will give Arteta plenty of options at the back, and can rotate the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White and Jakub Kiwior if required.
However, Dutch full-back Timber – who got injured on the Prem opening day against Nottingham Forest in August – is not yet ready to take part in a match situation just yet.
Timber has been involved in full training with the senior side for the past few weeks and is building his way back to featuring at some point next month.
However, Arteta will not take any risks on a player he sees as crucial to his set-up, and internally the club are very excited by what Timber can bring to the side next season when fully fit.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
