Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has provided an update on his ankle injury and hopes ‘it won’t be too much longer’ before he is able to return to the training pitch.

The midfielder suffered significant ligament damage while on international duty for Norway last month and has been sidelined for an indefinite period.

Mikel Arteta hinted on Friday that Odegaard’s recovery was ahead of schedule and the Norwegian echoed those thoughts in the matchday programme for Saturday’s Premier Legaue clash.

Odegaard wrote a note to the fans and provided an update on his recovery saying: “I just wanted to start with the latest on my injury and rehab. In the last week or so I’ve made really good progress.

“I’m getting better and better by the day and feel it’s going well. When you feel like things are moving forward, it gives you motivation to do more and more and work harder. Today is our last game before another international break, so that gives me some more time to work on the rehab too.

“Hopefully, it won’t be much longer; I think we will know more as soon as I get out on the training pitches and we see how my ankle responds to that.

“At the moment it’s progressing well and it looks better than we were thinking, but we’ve still got to take every day as it comes.”

The news will come as an exciting surprise for Arsenal fans who will be keen to see their captain return to the team and help them continue their title challenge.