“Although he played 45 mins but i subbed him off at halftime because of……” Ghana national team coach Chris Hughton gives a concrete update on Thomas Partey’s injury and how long he will be unavailable after subbing the Arsenal star at half time

Ghana boss Chris Hughton offers update on Thomas Partey after Arsenal star is replaced at half-time against Mexico

Ghana head coach Chris Hughton has confirmed Thomas Partey has not suffered any injury setback having replaced the Arsenal star midway through Sunday’s clash with Mexico.

Partey picked up a groin injury in Arsenal’s third game of the season against Fulham, missing his side’s next six as a result.

The former Atletico Madrid star was back in the squad as an unused substitute in the Champions League defeat to Lens and came off the bench for his first appearance since August in the final 15 minutes of the 1-0 win over Manchester City prior to the international break.

Partey was included in the Ghana squad for friendly games against Mexico and USA, starting as his side fell to a 2-0 defeat to El Tri in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The 30-year-old was replaced at half-time but the Black Stars head coach Hughton has quickly eased any fresh injury fears, insisting the decision to only give him 45 minutes was made before kick-off.

‘Thomas was always only going to play 45 minutes,’ Hughton told a press conference.

‘He has been out injured for three to four weeks, he came back for Arsenal last midweek, was on the subs bench for one game played 20 minutes for the next game. So we knew he was only going to play 45 minutes.’

Given his recent injury problems, Arsenal opted to send out physiotherapist Simon Murphy to Ghana with the midfielder to monitor his progress.

Chelsea face a huge clash with Chelsea following the international break on Saturday 21 October.

Bukayo Saka and William Saliba both remained in north London over the international break after withdrawing from the England and France squads respectively.

Saka was forced off in the defeat to Lens and missed the win over Man City as a result but Arsenal hope he will be ready for the trip to Stamford Bridge.

Saliba meanwhile withdrew from Les Blues squad due to a toe injury is has been carrying for a number of weeks. He is expected to be available against Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Leandro Trossard also withdrew from the Belgium squad after picking up a knock against City.