Every word Mikel Arteta said on Kylian Mbappe transfer, Thomas Partey return and Roy Hodgson

What’s the update on team news

The update is that some of them have been progressing better than others. We have a training session today. Some of them have done a few bits this week. I’m positive that hopefully we’re gonna get a few back for tomorrow.

Any definitely ruled out?

At the moment, no.

How important is it to use the squad in the right way?

Well we have to go game by game. With certain positions in recent weeks we haven’t had a choice. We had to play them. We had a chance in matches to adjust the load of certain players and make changes. We have tried to manage that in the best way because as you say it’s going to be really important.

So there’s no serious injuries?

There’s not big set backs. Thomas Partey is progressing really well.

What does really well mean?

It’s looking very good and he’s on the field already.

A couple of weeks?

Hopefully.

How hard is it to keep momentum going?

It’s the most important part of the season. We know that every fixture will play a significant part in what we want to achieve. Burnley is the most important one at the moment. If you look at how teams have drawn with or beaten them it’s been with very small margins. They’re very well coached and they’ll be very competitive. We know we have a very tough match on Saturday. That’s the only way to play the game. The rest will come.

It must be exciting to be part of the title race?

We want to be there. That means we’ve done a lot of things right in the season. We have learnt a lot of things from last season. We have shown great consistency and now we want to go forward and maintain that consistency, continue to play the way we’re playing and perform. Let’s see where we get.

What did you do in Dubai to help the goal scoring?

Nothing. Working the