Arsenal fans everywhere will have been a bit concerned when they didn’t see William Saliba’s name in the squad vs Hull City after his recent return from injury.

But don’t fret.

Saliba has been out since the summer when he picked up a back injury at the World Cup with France.

The superstar center back has been working his way back to full fitness and was on the bench for Arsenal’s win at Slavia Prague on Wednesday but didn’t come on.

Latest William Saliba update

Most people expected Saliba to be on the bench again for Arsenal against Hull City on Saturday, and probably come on for a few minutes, but he was not named in the squad.

“He needs some minutes,” Arteta told BBC Sport before the game against Hull City.

“Obviously, the Champions League allows you to bring more players into the bench, but we believe that it’s the best thing to do, to play some minutes on the weekend with under-21s and then be fully fit for the international break.”

What’s the next step for William Saliba?

Arsenal host Aston Villa in a Premier League 2 game on Sunday, so Saliba will play in that and all eyes will be on how the Rolls Royce of a center back comes through it.

Saliba hasn’t been called up to the French squad by Zinedine Zidane for the upcoming international break, so he can spend the next few weeks at Arsenal’s training ground working on his fitness.

It’s a smart call by Arteta not to rush him back, but given the form of summer signing Ezri Konsa it also hasn’t been necessary to take any risks with Saliba’s recovery from injury.

Arsenal’s schedule is relentless after the break with Newcastle, Dortmund, Man City, Brentford, Spurs, Real Madrid, Bournemouth and Man United coming up in a bonkers eight-game stretch up to the festive period.

Arteta will need all of his squad to get through that tough stretch and Saliba will probably have to work his way back into the team slowly with Konsa playing so well.