The Arsenal boss is taking a more careful approach with the French defender
Unai Emery says he will not rush Laurent Koscielny back into the lineup as the Frenchman awaits a return from injury.
Koscielny ruptured his achilles tendon in May and has been sidelined ever since, missing the World Cup as well as the start of the Arsenal season.
The defender has yet to feature under Emery, and the Arsenal boss says that Koscielny will be out of action until at least December as the club takes a more careful approach to his return.
“We need to be calm with him. Calm because we need [to wait] more than a month,” Emery said.
“He needs to feel [well] first, if he is doing some things, then he is doing well.
“Then when he can play and available for games in the training, [then] we can think he is okay to play.
“He is very important for us because he is our captain. He is starting this week to do some training with us together and it is very, very good news for us.
“I think we need also to give confidence to him, to be close with us, because it was a big injury. But now he is getting better, he is training with us in some things and this is very positive.”
The 33-year-old Arsenal captain joined the club from Lorient in 2010 and has since made 324 appearances for the English club.
During his time in London, Koscielny has won two FA Cups and two Community Shields while becoming one of Arsenal’s main figures throughout his tenure.
Speculation was rampant that the defender would leave the club in the summer, but he remains a part of Emery’s plans.
Koscielny recently admitted that he was rooting against France at the World Cup and remains frustrated by the fact that he was unable to take part in this past summer’s triumph in Russia.