Norway boss issues new Martin Odegaard injury update as doubts over Arsenal star emerge
Stale Solbakken has been left sweating on the fitness of Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard
Norway head coach Stale Solbakken has revealed he still doesn't know if Martin Odegaard will be ready to face Wales on Thursday in the Nations League.
The Arsenal captain has travelled with the squad to Cardiff but he was unable to train yesterday due to ankle pain following Bernardo Silva's late tackle on the 27-year-old.
Solbakken said on Wednesday in his pre-match press conference: "I wish I could say yes, but I don't know. I can't say no either. He's going to do some testing today, but we'll see. He's here. If he wasn't, there wouldn't have been a chance."
Odegaard was limping heavily on Sunday evening after the 2-1 defeat to Portugal and he pulled no punches in his post-match interview, slamming Bernardo's careless and malicious challenge.
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Solbakken was also quizzed on what it will require for Odegaard to feature as he looks to progress with his fitness in the next 24 hours.
The former Wolves boss said: "It's whether he's a hundred [per cent]. Whether he feels like he can play with it. He has to feel like he's useful and that his body is giving him the answers he wants. Then there's still over a day until the game."
Norway are battling to get their Group D campaign back on track ahead of Sunday's crunch trip to Portugal, who are top of the table with two wins from two following their triumph in Oslo.
That will evidently be a grudge match after Bernardo's antics but first, Norway need to care of business against Craig Bellamy's Dragons.
Martin Odegaard was left furious by Bernardo Silva's late challenge
Kristian Thorstvedt and Julian Ryerson are also doubtful to face Wales and that could prompt a tactical rethink.
Odegaard is set to give himself every chance of proving his fitness despite missing the team's open training session on Tuesday.
Before training, Norway assistant Brede Hangeland explained that doctor Ola Sand had conducted scans on Odegaard's angle, which revealed no signifcant damage.
He said: “Ola Sand has that under control. As far as I understood, there was nothing dramatic in those [X-ray] images.
"The most important thing is that the guy is feeling better. The images show a snapshot, while he’s still recovering. And the progress is positive.”
Kristoffer Ajer hopes his captain will be available for the clash in Cardiff, explaining: "I think everyone saw the tackle. We think he was late and Martin got injured. It will be interesting to see how he feels in training.
"Hopefully he will be ready, Ajer tells the press. I hope he will train. It's an easy training, so I hope he gets out on the pitch."
Odegaard has 75 caps for his country but has only scored five goals. He's been in fine goalscoring form this season at club level, netting four times across all competitions.
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