Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny is back in full training ahead of Sunday's Premier League game at Manchester City after scans confirmed he had not fractured his jaw.
Koscielny was caught by a stray boot from Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku in the FA Cup defeat last week, and did not play in Arsenal's Premier League home win over Cardiff on Tuesday.
Arsenal said scans had shown only "bruising and soft tissue swelling" to Koscielny's face and jaw, giving manager Unai Emery the option of picking him amid a defensive injury crisis.
"He trained today well, we are positive with him," Arsenal coach Unai Emery said.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who injured an ankle against United, will be sidelined until the end of the month. Stand-in full back Ainsley Maitland-Niles' right knee will be assessed ahead of the trip to Manchester.
Meanwhile, defender Hector Bellerin has undergone successful surgery after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament rupture earlier this month.
Surgery = success. Big thank you to all the doctors and physios who worked so hard to get me ready for surgery and through it with such ease 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/Jl8oNUptCB
— Héctor Bellerín (@HectorBellerin) January 31, 2019
Writing on Twitter, Bellerin said: "Surgery = success. Big thank you to all the doctors and physios who worked so hard to get me ready for surgery and through it with such ease."
The Spain international was taken off on a stretcher after 72 minutes of Arsenal's 2-0 win over Chelsea and faces between six and nine months on the sidelines.
"It's a big injury, it's a long time," Emery said.
"This season is impossible. The important thing is to be calm. Usually, this injury is six to eight months."
Emery added that new signing Denis Suarez could be in line for his Arsenal debut against Manchester City on Sunday.
"He started to train yesterday and today with the group. I think he is good, he adapts quickly and he is a player with quality.
"He can help us with his quality but also his ambition to do something important here.
I am thinking about all the players, If he starts, I have confidence in him."
Information from Reuters was used in this report.