New signing Jurrien Timber is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an anterior cruciate ligament injury [Photo: Pedro Soares/SPP]

MIKEL Arteta has urged his Arsenal players to “adapt” and “be ready” for the challenges that await them this season – starting with the devastating news that summer signing Jurrien Timber is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

The Dutch defender, who only joined the Gunners from Ajax last month, managed just 50 minutes of his Premier League debut on Saturday before limping off with what has now been confirmed as an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Timber is expected to miss the remainder of the campaign, with Arteta admitting the 22-year-old has “a long journey” ahead of him.

“It’s a huge blow, especially for him having just joined the club,” said the Arsenal boss. “To have the injury that he has is a huge disappointment for him.

“Obviously for the team it’s a big blow because we recruited him with clear intentions, and what he was bringing to the team was evident.

“We have to adapt, these things happen unfortunately, and we have to move on.”

Offering an insight into how Timber is handling the setback, Arteta added: “He’s been very good, to be honest. He’s a special character, and I think he’s started to realise the extent of the injury and the amount of time that he’s going to be out, but he’s in a good place. We are all willing to help him and we are all very close to him, but it’s going to be a long journey.”

However, Arteta remained coy on whether or not Timber’s injury would lead to more minutes for left-back Kieran Tierney, or if Arsenal will be tempted to dip back into the transfer market to find a replacement.

“I am more thinking about the resources that we have within the team to keep doing what we want to do,” insisted the Spaniard. “It’s true that he [Timber] was giving us very different things in terms of what we could do on both sides [of the pitch], but again, these things happen, and we have to be prepared for that.

“It’s an opportunity for everybody. We’re going to need everybody, and everybody is going to be important. The numbers that we have in the squad, especially in those positions, are more limited now, so everybody has to be ready.”

And the next challenge that Arsenal have to be ready for arrives on Monday night when the north Londoners travel across the capital to take on Crystal Palace.

Despite starting their new league campaign with a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday, the Gunners were criticised for lacking a clinical edge.

Eddie Nketiah’s deflected effort and a stunning strike from Bukayo Saka saw Arteta’s side ease into a 2-0 lead inside 32 minutes at the Emirates Stadium.

But they failed to build on that advantage, and when Taiwo Awoniyi pulled a goal back for the visitors late on it led to a needlessly nervy finish.

Many believe that to be serious title contenders again this time around, Arsenal need that ruthless striker capable of getting 20-plus goals a season. Arteta, though, seems happy with the attacking threat that he has at his disposal.

He said: “We haven’t had that player but we have managed to be extremely competitive without that player. It means the goals have to be shared around more but nobody can sign a piece of paper that says this season a player will score 20, 25 or 30 goals. We don’t know, and if somebody knows, please raise your hand!

“Martin Odegaard scored 15 goals last season and before he used to score three or four. What we are doing is working in the best possible way, to encourage those players to understand there is no limit and they can be as good as they can possibly be, and I’m sure that we have players that can score 20 goals in a season.”