Arsenal manager Unai Emery has given Aaron Ramsey special dispensation to skip the long trip to Azerbaijan to be with his heavily pregnant wife.
Ramsey has not travelled to Baku with the rest of the Gunners squad ahead of Thursday's clash against FC Qarabag, manager Emery revealing the midfielder asked to stay in London in order to stay with his wife Colleen, who is expecting twins.
'Aaron Ramsey asked me if he can stay in London because his wife is pregnant and they are waiting on the doctors,' confirmed the Gunners boss.
As Sportsmail revealed last week, Ramsey is set to leave the club at the end of the season after talks over a new deal collapsed.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also failed to make the trip to Baku through illness, but is expected to be available for Sunday's trip to Fulham.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan will miss the clash after the club decided against applying for a special permit for the Armenian to fly to Azerbaijan in light of historical tensions between the two countries.
Petr Cech will also miss the the Europa League tie with a hamstring injury.
But even with Ramsey, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan and Cech missing; Emery has decided to take a full strength squad out to Baku for the clash - the likes of Mesut Ozil, Hector Bellerin and Alexandre Lacazette here in Azerbaijan.
'The best idea is to think only of the match tomorrow and with the respect for this competition because we want, at the end, to finish first in the group,' said Emery.
'We want to win tomorrow with the best players for playing.'
