Thomas Partey is likely to play a part for Arsenal when they take on fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspurs in the North London derby on Saturday.

The midfielder was named in Ghana's squad for the doubleheader pre-World Cup friendly matches against Brazil and Nicaragua.

He was named in the starting lineup to play against Brazil but he was left out at the last minute as a precaution as he complained of discomfort around his knee.

Partey did not feature for Ghana in the next game against Nicaragua and was sent back to London for medical checks.

Addressing the issue on Monday, Ghana coach Addo explained that they did not want to risk Partey in a friendly and expressed hope he would return very quickly.

“Hopefully Thomas will be healthy very, very soon,” he told reporters. “We didn’t want to take that risk in a friendly game to play him against Brazil, but surely playing a player like him against a squad like Brazil would have been helpful.”

The Ghanaian midfielder who was injured for a month with a knee injury started in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Brentford a sixth victory from seven matches that left Mikel Arteta’s high-flying Gunners sitting top ahead of Manchester City and Tottenham before the International break and was later replaced in the second half by Albert Sambi Lokonga.

After playing in Arsenal's 3-0 win against Bournemouth, the 29-year-old Ghanaian did not play any match for the gunners as he was injured.

The defensive midfielder was out injured for Arsenal's last two matches played before the International break.

Partey started the season in blistering form for the Gunners but got injured in their fourth league game against Fulham and also did not play in the 3-1 defeat against Manchester United.