Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has given an update on when he expects Jurrien Timber to return to first team action.

The 22-year-old signed from Ajax last summer injured his knee in the opening Premier Leaage match of the season.

Timber, 22, was withdrawn after 50 minutes of the Gunners 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates back in August, with the club revealing he had suffered a tear in his ACL - and has not featured since.

However the talented defender has been working hard during his recovery - and when Arteta was asked if he will be back in the team before the end of the season, the Gunners boss was optimistic.

“I really hope so, he’s doing really well, he’s been around some players on the pitch and we are going to start to do some bits with us in the next week or so,” he said.

“Then we need to see how that evolves, his confidence levels, his fitness levels and hopefully then the answer is ‘yes’.”

Thomas Partey and Gabriel Jesus are both close to a return to full fitness ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game against Newcastle United.

On Partey, Arteta said: “We have another session today and obviously he’s been out for many, many months now and we need to really nail the timing and when he has enough in the tank to compete, but I think he’s very close.

“It’s the same with Gabby [Jesus] as well, he's done a few things,” he added.

The boss of the North London giants also added that Oleksandr Zinchenko is “not far at all,” while Takehiro Tomiyasu needs “still a little bit more” time.