'In the squad': Mikel Arteta says Arsenal 'superstar' is back from injury and raring to go v Nottingham Forest today

Today at 01:15 AM

Arsenal play host to Premier League high-flyers Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon with both teams eager to get back to winning ways.

With the international break finally out of the way, the Gunners will hope to get firmly back in the title chase and close in on Liverpool and Manchester City.

Arsenal will be up against a tough Nottingham Forest side that started the season very well, although they go into Saturday’s game on the back of a 3-1 loss to Newcastle United.

That said, the Gunners haven't won in the league since the start of October, though they have since recorded creditable draws against Liverpool and Chelsea.

Ahead of the match, Mikel Arteta provided some team news, with one key player now set to be available after an injury lay-off.

READ MORE: David Seaman shares what's worrying him about Arsenal ahead of Nottingham Forest clash

Riccardo Calafiori in Arsenal squad against Nottingham Forest

The player in question is Riccardo Calafiori, who has impressed since his move to Arsenal from Bologna over the summer.

Calafiori had been sidelined with a knee injury since late October, when he limped off the pitch during the Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk.

However, the Italy international has been on the mend and, according to Arteta, he’s now fit and raring to go against the Reds.

“Riccy trained today,” said the Arsenal boss. “His rehab has gone really well.

“He was able to do certain things last week with the physios. He trained on the pitch this week, he trained with us today as well. He will be in the squad.”

Gabriel Martinelli previously deemed Calafiori a "superstar" and no doubt most Arsenal fans feel that way about him thanks to his quality and versatility.

Other Arsenal team news v Forest

Arteta also told the Arsenal media team that Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice "had their first partial (training) session" on Friday and Leandro Trossard "seems to be okay".

However, the Forest game comes too soon for Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu, while Ben White will be out for several months.

As for Forest, only Danilo and Ibrahim Sangare are definitely out for the game, with the former recovering from an ankle injury and the latter having a thigh issue.