'Too early' - Beth Mead and Lotte Wubben-Moy miss Arsenal's final pre-season game as Jonas Eidevall provides injury updates on Lionesses stars ahead of crucial Champions League qualifiers

Mead and Wubben-Moy were not involved in the last match of the Gunners' pre-season tour of the U.S. and then missed the team's final friendly of the summer on Saturday, a 3-0 win over Championship side Southampton. Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar, who signed from Aston Villa in July, and defender Steph Catley were also absent at the weekend.

The absences will have no doubt caused concern among Arsenal fans as their side are in action in Champions League qualifying in just a few days' time. The Gunners face Scottish giants Rangers on Wednesday, September 4, needing to win to progress. If victorious, they will then take on either Rosenborg or, more likely, Atletico Madrid on Sunday, September 7, for a place in the second round of qualifying.

Speaking to Arseblog about player availability ahead of a big week, Eidevall confirmed that forward Lina Hurtig and midfielder Victoria Pelova will miss those qualifiers, but said of his other absentees: "The rest are all in contention for the Champions League. This game here came too early but they are not far off either, so we need to see in the next couple of days."

The coach also explained why striker Stina Blackstenius, competing for the striker spot with Alessia Russo, was subbed off just 20 minutes after coming on against Southampton. "Stina was pre-planned," he said. "She was ready to do 20 minutes, I just preferred to make those 20 minutes at the beginning of the second half because we never know with extra time and so on so I didn’t want to take any chances with the minutes being more, so we were strict with that."

Eidevall will hope to have everyone back in contention in the build-up to Wednesday's game against Rangers, as he and his side look to avoid going out in the first round of Champions League qualifying for the second season in a row.