Mikel Arteta admits he does not know if Declan Rice will be fit for Arsenal's clash with Bournemouth on Saturday.
The England midfielder was not in the squad for Tuesday night's 4-1 rout of Aston Villa, which sent the Gunners five points clear at the top of the Premier League, due to a knee injury.
On whether Rice could feature at the Vitality Stadium this weekend, Arteta said: 'It depends, that swelling has to come right down for him to have the chance to function.
'He wasn't able to do that today, he's improving. But let's see what happens in the next couple of days.'
Arteta hailed the way his 'extraordinary' league leaders clicked into gear after an even first half at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners stunned Villa with two goals in four minutes. Emiliano Martinez's missed catch allowed Gabriel — on his first start since picking up a hamstring injury on November 18 — to bundle home Bukayo Saka's corner before Martin Zubimendi struck.
Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus later added goals to end Villa's 11-game winning run and increase the gap between the two sides to six points, with the Midlands club sitting third.
The north London club are now five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who play Sunderland on Thursday.
Arteta said: 'I'm so happy. We struggled in the first 10 minutes, arriving a bit late and creating some open space situations that they are very dangerous at.
'Then we adjusted (in the second half), got a bit more control. We competed for everything then much better. The timing was better and the goal was fulfilled in an extraordinary way, so efficient in everything that we did.
'Unlike the last few games where we had so many big situations, today we were very prolific and accurate to make the difference.'
He praised the impact of Gabriel, who had returned early from his injury.
'Big Gabi, he comes from an injury of six weeks, that probably should have been a bit longer,' said Arteta.
'He plays against probably the team that is the hardest to control, especially the front players.
'And the striker that they have (Ollie Watkins) in terms of their movements. He impacts the game in an incredible way, both defending and the opposition box.'
Unai Emery didn't shake hands with Arteta at the end of the match. On the matter, Emery said: 'I was waiting for him but he was with his coaches. My routine is to always go for first to the opponent coach, shake hands and then go inside or go to my coaches.
'If he's not doing the same rule, I can't wait. I don't know what happened.
'There's no issue for me, but I can't wait. Maybe it's because it was cold? I'm still happy, even losing today, so congratulations to Arsenal.'