Martin Odegaard 'not doing well' but could still feature for Norway | OneFootball

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is considered a major injury doubt for Norway ahead of upcoming internationals, although coach Stale Solbakken is still hopeful of being able to use him.

Odegaard was forced to sit out the Gunners’ 3-0 win over Brentford last week due to a calf injury, which immediately alerted Norway they may have to do without their midfield star against Slovenia and Serbia.

They have been in contact with Arsenal since and, although admitting Odegaard’s isn’t looking great now, they do want him to feature in the Nations League this month.

“We are in regular dialogue with him and [Mikel] Arteta and Arsenal’s health sector,” Solbakken said, as per Norwegian broadcaster TV2. “Nothing has been decided there, so there is still hope. They are the ones who have handled him up until now, and they are in dialogue.

“He’s not doing well now. Now it’s a matter of getting a final decision on whether he can be in both or one game. We’ll certainly see him in Norway, either as a player or a ‘fourth coach’. It means a lot to have him.”

Ahead of the trip to Brentford, Arteta confirmed the injuries to Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko, although he did not offer any prediction on when they would be expected to return.

“They are both injured and not available for the game,” he said. “I don’t know [how long they will be sidelined]. We have the international break right now so it's going to give us a break. They are two different things but we don’t know yet."