Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Ezri Konsa was withdrawn against Slavia Prague on Wednesday as a “precaution” but is confident the Arsenal centre-back will be available to face Hull on Saturday.

Konsa has been a standout in the Arsenal defence since his arrival from Aston Villa in the summer, stepping up in the absence of William Saliba and keeping four Premier League sheets in a row.

The England international was replaced by Cristhian Mosquera in the 61st minute in the Champions League in Czechia but Arteta said it was only due to managing his workload before the international break.

“He's fine,” Arteta confirmed at a press conference on Friday. “He was feeling much better today. We took him out for a precaution and for the amount of minutes that he is playing, but yesterday and today, he's feeling good."

Centre-back Saliba has not featured yet this season but nearing a return for Arsenal and was part of their squad in the Champions League in midweek.

Arteta confirmed that Arsenal are in contact with France and their new manager Zinedine Zidane, and are hopeful the Premier League winning defender will not be called up by Les Bleues this month.

Saliba played through a back injury at the World Cup in the summer, which resulted in him being ruled out for an “extended period”, but he has returned to full training and Arteta said he is in contention to face Hull at the weekend.

Arteta added: “They have all the information. Now it's about them, about Zinedine in this case to make the call. We will accept whatever it is. I think it's something between them.

“Willy needs minutes as well. I know how much he loves to be in the national team. It's a new manager, a really exciting one as well, so whatever he has decided is fine for us."