Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says adapting to Bukayo Saka’s absence with injury can transform him into a better manager.
Saka – who has five goals and 10 assists so far this season – faces “many weeks” on the sidelines after tearing his hamstring in Arsenal’s 5-1 win at Crystal Palace last weekend.
Fellow winger Raheem Sterling, will also be absent for a period of time after he suffered a knee injury in training.
When asked before the visit of Ipswich on Friday if coping without Saka will turn him into a better coach, Arteta said: “I think so, yes. We started the season with one of the thinnest squads in the Premier League, and we knew that.
“If we have the thinnest squad, what do we need? We really dug into that to make sure that we utilise every player in the best possible potential, and everybody has to feel part of it.
“You need to rediscover players in different positions, and different relationships. It’s a really good exercise and the boys are willing to do anything we demand them to do, so that’s a really good thing, too.”
Saka’s absence comes before a busy period for the Gunners with nine matches in January.
There has been much talk over the congested English football calendar with Arteta calling the fixture list, “unsustainable unless we can find ways to physically turn the players into monsters who can cope with anything”.
“The fact that you train and recover, that’s not a good pattern because the body needs to train, the muscle needs to train,” the Spaniard added.
“If you just play and recover you start to lose a lot of factors in your body that are key to physical performance.
“Not just to play not to get injured, but to become a better athlete, which is very different, and to keep evolving as an athlete.
“I hope the players are being listened to but whoever is in charge, can they actually do something right now with the commitments that are already in place over the next three or four seasons? It is very challenging and very difficult.”