MIKEL Arteta says his players will “have to adapt” as Arsenal struggle to get to grips with the potential injury crisis that is threatening to derail the club’s strong start to the season.

The Gunners remain unbeaten in their opening six Premier League games. But they are now sweating on the fitness of several first-teamers ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth, including Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard.

With Jurrien Timber already ruled out for the season with a serious knee injury and Thomas Partey not expected back until after the next international break following a niggling groin problem, the last thing Arteta needed was to see more of his stars sidelined.

Sadly for the Spaniard, that’s exactly what has happened. Rice was substituted at half-time in Sunday’s north London derby with a back complaint, while Saka limped off in added time with a foot injury. Trossard and Martinelli, meanwhile, are trying not to aggravate hamstring issues further.

“It’s the situation that we have at the moment,” said Arteta. “We have to adapt. The squad that we have at the moment is really short and we need players back.”

Offering a glimmer of hope ahead of the weekend, the Arsenal boss added: “Declan hasn’t trained yet. He could not carry on in the game [on Sunday], he wasn’t comfortable at all. Hopefully it’s not something big.

“We are confident. He’s still uncomfortable, he had to leave the pitch and that’s never a good sign for a player like him, but hopefully he will progress in the next few days.”

The news didn’t seem as optimistic for Saka and Trossard. Arteta said: “He [Saka] was limping quite badly after the match.

“We had to get him off the field, which is never a good sign as well. He hasn’t been able to participate in the session. It’s a possibility, yes [that he could miss the Bournemouth game].

“With Leandro, let’s see day by day how he improves and whether he’s got a chance for the weekend or not. He wasn’t comfortable to carry on the session the day before the game [against Tottenham] and he hasn’t trained yet.”

Arteta also said it was touch-and-go as to whether or not Martinelli would be available to face Bournemouth.

To make matters worse, Arsenal’s growing injury list comes with a generosity in front of goal that is starting to prove costly. Arteta admitted the Gunners are underperforming when it comes to finding the back of the net, saying: “There’s various ways to score goals and we are scoring goals. But we should have scored many more with the chances we have created.”

Insisting the club has no intention of signing a striker in January, Arteta added: “We’re not thinking at all about that. We have really good players up front. It’s true that now we have some injuries and we’ll continue with the players that we have.”