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8th Aug, 2016 | 5:33pm

Calum Chambers sends Twitter message to Gabriel after Arsenal blow

By Dominic Toner

Calum Chambers has offered his support for team-mate Gabriel on Twitter after Arsenal suffered another defensive setback.

Gunners defender Gabriel was stretchered off with an ankle injury in their 3-2 pre-season win over Manchester City on Sunday night.

Senior centre-back Laurent Koscielny is yet to play a game in pre-season after joining up with the Arsenal squad late following his involvement in the latter stages of Euro 2016, while Per Mertesacker is out until the new year with a knee injury.

Arsene Wenger confirmed on Sky Sports that both Gabriel and Koscielny are unlikely to feature in the Premier League opener against Liverpool on Sunday.

“He’s in pain, let’s hope that the pain is not a sign of bad news,” Wenger said. “Laurent’s back in training but Liverpool may come a bit soon. We’re short in defence at the moment.”

Chambers, who could line up in the heart of the Arsenal defence against Liverpool, has wished team-mate Gabriel a quick recovery on Twitter.

Chambers, 21, has made 58 senior appearances for Arsenal in all competitions since his arrival from Southampton two years ago.

Chambers can also play at right-back but will find it difficult to dislodge the impressive Hector Bellerin, who has caught the attention of big clubs including Barcelona and Manchester City.

With the absences in the Arsenal defence the start of the season could provide Chambers the opportunity to cement a first-team spot.

In other Arsenal team news, Wenger dropped a major hint for the starting XI expected to face Liverpool.