Arsenal handed huge Jurrien Timber boost as Mikel Arteta plan comes to fruition

Jurrien Timber is travelling with the Arsenal Under-21s for the Premier League 2 clash with Blackburn Rovers as he continues to step up his recovery from an ACL injury.

The Dutch international has been absent since August after picking up the injury on the opening weekend of the Premier League season against Nottingham Forest. He made his return to training earlier this year, and is understood to have reacted positively to the programme to integrate him back into the team.

Arsenal are now keen to expose him to a matchday situation to test how far his recovery has come. «He's gonna play a game with the 23s and after that we will see better how he feels,» Mikel Arteta said last week. «He looks really good in training, but it’s that last big step, we need to see if he's ready and how it's going to go.»

It's not yet clear if the Dutch international will be starting or on the bench for the clash at Ewood Park. This is thought to be the crucial step as he continues his road to recovery, however.

Timber earned plenty of plaudits for his performances in pre-season after signing from Ajax for £34million. Capable of playing at either left or right-back, Arteta feels his versatility has been sorely missed this season.

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«Everyone could see from day one what he was going to bring to the team,» the Spaniard said in January. «The versatility, the quality, the leadership. And an ability that we did not have in the backline. It was a huge blow.»

There is a strong hope that Timber could play a role for Arsenal's first team before the end of the season. He