Gabriel Martinelli went off against Newcastle on Wednesday with a hamstring injury [Alexander Canillas/SPP]

ARSENAL are sweating over the extent of Gabriel Martinelli’s hamstring injury – although it’s an issue that Mikel Arteta at least gets to tackle in sunnier climes.

Having failed to sign a striker during the January transfer window, the last thing the Gunners boss would have wanted to see against Newcastle on Wednesday night – apart from the scoreline – was for one of his few remaining attacking players to get injured.

But with 36 minutes on the clock at St James’ Park that’s exactly what happened when Martinelli went down holding his hamstring before being replaced by Ethan Nwaneri.

Offering an update on the Brazilian winger’s situation after the game, Arteta said: “He felt something, I think it was his hamstring, and he wasn’t comfortable to continue. We have to have an MRI scan to see the extent of the injury.”

The Gunners are already struggling for numbers in the final third of the pitch. Bukayo Saka isn’t expected back for at least another six weeks after undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury, while Gabriel Jesus won’t play again this season after damaging his ACL.

The lack of firepower within the Arsenal squad was evident in midweek when Newcastle all-too-easily dispatched the north Londoners in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.

Goals from Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon led the Magpies to a comfortable 2-0 home win – echoing the 2-0 victory that Eddie Howe’s side earned in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium.

It turns out the best way to get over a 4-0 aggregate defeat and never-ending injury woes is to jet off into the sun.

Arteta and his aching squad travelled to Dubai yesterday (Thursday) for a mid-season training camp. The team will be put through their paces before returning ahead of their Premier League tie away to Leicester City on Saturday, February 15.

It could prove just the tonic, with Arteta admitting that the defeat against Newcastle is “a tough one” to take.

He said: “We need to swallow this one, it’s a tough one and we had a lot of expectations. Now we have to look forward, first of all I think this is going to be a painful one, and when we’re in Dubai, recharge and go again because we still have a lot to play for.”

Meanwhile, Martin Odegaard has urged the players to learn from the cup defeat, admitting that Arsenal didn’t deserve to go to Wembley.

“It’s frustrating,” said the Gunners skipper. “We had a big goal to go to the final and we believed it was possible to make it happen, but I think the way we played throughout the game, and throughout the two legs, we didn’t deserve it.

“We have to look at ourselves, improve and learn from it. We’re all disappointed and we should’ve done better.

“We may be a young squad but we’ve played big games and we’ve played here many times so I still think it should’ve been possible to do better, but now we have to take the lessons and move on.”