Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny came away from his comeback fixture for the club’s Under-23 side unscathed, Freddie Ljungberg has confirmed.
Speaking to the Gunners’ official website following the youngsters’ defeat to Derby County, the coach delivered an update on the experienced Frenchman’s condition.
Ljungberg said:
He looked okay afterwards so that’s a great positive for the club. The players will learn a lot from him and you can see that we dominated possession and we held the ball quite well in the first half, so it’s just unfortunate that we gave away the penalty. I thought he did really well and I’m happy that he feels okay.
Koscielny has been out of action since the back-end of last season as he sustained a significant Achilles injury.
However, on Monday evening, the centre-back made his return to football and played for 45 minutes as Arsenal’s U23 side were condemned to a 5-0 defeat by Derby U23s.
The scoreline was close at the interval, with Ljungberg’s men only a goal down, but the second-half presented them with a different proposition as the Rams ran riot.
Koscielny will be hoping to continue his full recovery from injury as he looks to force his way into the plans of Unai Emery at the Emirates Stadium this season.
