Arsenal defender Ben White will be ruled out of action for "a few months" as he recovers from surgery, manager Mikel Arteta has revealed.
The 27-year-old full-back started the Gunners' final game before the international break, the 1-1 draw at Chelsea, completing 90 minutes in his seventh league start of the season.
During the two-week hiatus, White underwent what Arsenal called a "minor surgical procedure" on a knee issue, which Arteta has now confirmed will keep him out for the foreseeable future.
"Ben White is going to be out for months, unfortunately," he said in his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Nottm Forest on Saturday.
"It's been different kinds of struggles, never the same thing.
"We had to make a decision, it hasn't been improving in the last few weeks. We know Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to a point where we had to protect the player.
"We decided to do surgery, he agreed with that and that's going to keep him out for a few months.
"We have to see how he reacts post-surgery, I don't expect it to be half a year but I can't say exactly how long it will be."
White has been a near ever-present in the Arsenal backline since his arrival in 2021, missing only seven Premier League games in his first three seasons and featuring in nine of Arsenal's 11 so far this term.
Defensive issues have already plagued the Gunners this season with Jurrien Timber, Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu all struck down by injury at different times, but Arteta felt a crumb of comfort that the rest of his backline was finally shaking off those problems.
"It is a challenge. It's something we didn't expect at all," he said. "His availability in the defensive line has been about the best, with Gabriel and William Saliba.
"But we will find alternatives. There are positives - Declan [Rice] is back, Bukayo [Saka] is back, Jurrien is in a good place, Riccardo Calafiori is in a good place, and there's a lot of good news."
Arteta will manage his 250th Arsenal game on Saturday against Nottingham Forest, who sit level on points with them in the Premier League table owing to the Gunners' four-game winless streak in the league.
The international break gave the manager a chance to reflect on what has been behind those recent results, and while identifying areas he is looking to improve, the 42-year-old feels Arsenal have not been as bad as two points from their last four matches may suggest.
He said: "We've analysed everything we've done. Have the opponents been superior to us, is that the reason we haven't won games? The clear answer is no.
"Should we have won more of those games? The answer is yes. Do I like what our team is doing, the answer is yes, but we have to improve certain things. Especially defending and attacking the box.
"I can think of a lot of things overall, but I need to understand how the players are. The only way to do that, apart from communicating with them on the phone, is when they come back.
"And the energy of the staff and players yesterday was unbelievable. That's the joy of being with these guys on this journey.
"They love being here, they love being back with us, and that brings the energy straight away. It's always good to paint the picture, and make sure we are on the right track."
