Unai Emery has finally revealed why Laurent Koscielny did not play against Blackpool.
The skipper suffered a back injury before the FA Cup clash at Bloomfield Road but Emery hopes the Frenchman will be fine for the next matches. Koscielny just returned to action late last year after he was sidelined by another long-term injury.
“Yes [it’s a back problem]. I hope it’s not bad. He has one week to rest and to work, thinking about the next match against West Ham. I hope he’s going to be OK for the next matches but before the match, he felt some pain in his back.”
“We decided it was better for him to not play. At the moment, with our problems at centre back, it meant we were able to look at different players in different positions. Lichtsteiner, who played with very good commitment and concentration to help us at centre back with Sokratis.” the gaffer told the club’s website.