Swansea defender Martin Olsson gives Paul Clement injury headache ahead of Arsenal trip
KEY POINTS
- The only left-back in Clement's squad was forced off with a possible hamstring injury.
- The Swans take on Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday.
Swansea City could be without Martin Olsson for their visit to Arsenal on Saturday (28 October) after the defender limped out of his side's Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester United.
Paul Clement made eight changes to his side after the weekend defeat to Leicester City but Olsson was one of the few to retain his place in the starting XI on Tuesday. His evening at the Liberty Stadium came to a premature end however when he pulled up after racing across to close down Marcus Rashford's run, coming off after 39 minutes with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after the 2-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho's side, Clement was unsure of the extent of the injury with the player set to undergo tests on Wednesday. But should the problem rule him out of Saturday's clash with Arsenal at the Emirates, he is confident he has options to replace the Swede in his squad, including Kyle Naughton, who came onto replace the injured full-back in the first-half.
When asked about Olsson's injury, Clement said: "I don't know yet, I haven't had a conversation with either him or the medical team yet, we'll look at that immediately when we get in in the morning. But if he is not okay for the weekend we have the option of playing Naughton there or [Sam] Clucas can fit into that position."
After making wholesale changes to the side beaten by Leicester over the weekend, Clement was also asked if any of the newcomers had done enough to force their way into his first-team plans for Saturday, with striker Oli McBurnie, who started ahead of Tammy Abraham, among those who impressed the boss.
"I think they did, Burnie [McBurnie] battled away, right from the start he showed some good things. I thought Clucas had a good game, he showed lots of energy playing a little higher up the pitch today. Roque was okay."
Swansea travel to Arsenal hovering just above the relegation zone by virtue of their slightly superior goal different over West Ham United, Stoke City and Everton.