Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has claimed Kai Havertz’s hamstring injury was “an accident waiting to happen”.

Arteta has now issued a rallying cry to the squad to show “what you’re made of” in his absence.

The 25-year-old is set to undergo surgery and miss the rest of the season.

Arteta has now revealed Havertz sustained the problem while defending a set-piece during their winter training break in Dubai earlier this week.

Arsenal are now without a recognised No. 9 with Gabriel Jesus, who is also sidelined until next season following knee surgery.

Arteta’s attacking options have been further depleted by injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

“We were having a great camp in Dubai, recharging, training, having some time off and connecting again with nature and a different environment and then the injury happened in a very unexpected way, certainly,” Arteta said.

“So it’s a big blow, obviously, because of the injuries that we have. But fortunately, we’ve been through a lot this season. We have played without Gabriel Magalhães, without William Saliba, without Ben White all season, Takehiro Tomiyasu all season, [Riccardo] Calafiori two months, [Mikel] Merino two months, Martin Ødegaard two months, Bukayo Saka three months, Gabriel Jesus, all of them. So that’s it. That’s the challenge ahead.

“Love it and look forward because we are still where we are with all the things that I mentioned on top of playing four times with 10 men, blah, blah, blah. So let’s see what the team is made of.”