Christos Tzolis injury leaves Arsenal waiting on scans

Christos Tzolis lasted just 18 minutes in Greece vs Netherlands before a hamstring problem sent him for immediate treatment and left Arsenal waiting on scan results. He pulled up with a right hamstring issue in Thessaloniki on Thursday evening, and Greece now expect him to miss their home match against Germany this weekend while he is assessed.

Jovanovic's description of the injury

Ivan Jovanovic said he moved quickly because he did not want to take any risks. Speaking to goal.com, the Greece head coach said: "I told him to get out, because I suspected that he wouldn't have done that if he hadn't felt something. We don't know how big the damage is today, but I hoped it was just a twitch, something temporary."

He also said Tzolis initially refused to leave, briefly went to defend a corner, and only then came off. Jovanovic added that he wanted to protect the player, even in a Nations League match that was not a qualifier.

The numbers around the injury underline how abrupt the setback was. Tzolis had already made 3 Nations League appearances this season and played 189 minutes before this match, so the forced exit came after a steady run of international minutes.

Arsenal's October schedule does not give them much breathing room. Their next five fixtures are Leeds, Lille, Nottingham Forest, Bayern München and Everton, and any hamstring layoff would quickly overlap with that run. The club still needs the scan before anyone can say more than that.