As the clock ticked down on Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Ipswich Town, David Raya received a backpass just outside his penalty area, dribbled back into the box, hovered over the ball and gathered it up, using up precious seconds.

Arsenal moved up to second place in the Premier League with a 1-0 home win against Ipswich on Friday. Mikel Arteta’s side is six points behind leader Liverpool, which has a game in hand. Second-bottom Ipswich had won two of its last three away games but was up against it from the start at the Emirates.

Here was something Arsenal sorely needed at the start of the all too lengthy absence of Bukayo Saka, something managers crave most of all at this stage of the season: an extended workout, a prolonged session of at least 45 minutes to start smoothing out the issues that cannot run for over two months.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says Bukayo Saka is likely to be sidelined until at least March following surgery on his hamstring