Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey ‘part of the team’ ahead of Arsenal’s north London derby with Spurs

Mikel Arteta says Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney are all “part of the team” ahead of Arsenal’s north London derby with Tottenham on Saturday.

Partey and Tierney were sent home by Ghana and Scotland during the international break with muscle and concussion injuries respectively.

The 29-year-old was due to start in Ghana’s Pre-World Cup friendly with Brazil, but had to pull out of the line-up minutes before the game last Friday. He was withdrawn as a precautionary measure and subsequently missed the Nicaragua game on Tuesday.

Partey picked up a thigh injury earlier this season, missing a number of games for the Gunners, but made his return to the first team in the 3-0 win against Brentford just before the international break.

Zinchenko, along with captain Martin Odegaard also missed the win over The Bees but both players could also feature at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.

Partey has made four league appearances for Arsenal so far this campaign.