Kieran Tierney was walking out of the shower when he suffered the serious knee injury which recently kept him out for several months, it has emerged.
The left back needed surgery after damaging knee cartilage towards the end of last season.
Tierney missed Arsenal’s final 10 matches, with Nuno Tavares and even Granit Xhaka deputising as Mikel Arteta’s side missed out on Champions League football.
The injury that kept Kieran Tierney out for several months happened when he walked out the shower
The Scotland international initially suffered a problem in February before his knee ‘collapsed’ after training a few weeks later. It meant he also missed Scotland’s World Cup play-off against Ukraine, when their hopes of reaching Qatar were dashed.
‘The Wolves game, he had a hyper-extension injury, finished the game, didn’t mention it and then played the next five games with no problems whatsoever,’ Arsenal doctor Gary O’Driscoll revealed in the penultimate episode of All Or Nothing. ‘But he then walked out of the shower on Thursday after training, turned a corner, bent his knee and felt the knee collapse.’
Tierney initially said the injury happened while he was doing leg exercises in the gym.
Arsenal doctor Gary O’Driscoll revealed Tierney turned a corner and bent his knee
The left back has struggled with injury while at Arsenal and suffered a setback in his recovery during pre-season.
Tierney has been used a substitute in both of Arsenal’s opening Premier League matches, with new signing Oleksandr Zinchenko starting at left back.
Arteta, meanwhile, revealed he spent months looking for a song Arsenal could play before kick-off to strengthen his side’s connection with supporters.
Mikel Arteta chose for Arsenal to play ‘The Angel’ by Louis Dunford before home matches
He eventually found ‘The Angel’ by Louis Dunford, which has been used since last victory over Leeds in May.
‘I’ve been searching for many months for a song, an “anthem” before kick-off, so everybody feels part of what we’re doing, that it has some DNA about our club. I’m going to share it with you,’ he told his players. ‘It’s by Louis Dunford and he’s written a song about the streets of north London… he’s a local lad, he’s a huge arsenal fan. It’s like the sun has come to us, in my opinion, in the right moment to change and go another step at the Emirates because I want you to play in an incredible atmosphere.’