Arsenal U21 boss Freddie Ljungberg has given an update as to why Laurent Koscielny hobbled off the pitch during his side’s 2-1 defeat against Portsmouth in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday evening.

The 33-year-old former Lorient centre-half started the young guns match against Pompey but left the field in discomfort with a matter of minutes remaining.

Koscielny, who won 51 caps for his country before suffering an achilles injury during the UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg match against Atlético Madrid in early May has not played for the first team since.

The Tulle-born defender featured for the U23s last month in a 4-0 defeat at Derby and was selected to start against Pompey on a bitterly cold evening on the south coast.

Moments after Andre Green’s 83rd minute winner the experienced Frenchman walked off slowly to be replaced by Nathan Tormey, prompting fears of an injury set-back,

However, speaking exclusively to the Islington Gazette after the match Ljungberg brushed off concerns, saying: “It was a bit sad [because] he signalled to me before their goal he had cramp.

“I told him to go down, H wasn’t injured. It was just cramp, but unfortunately he couldn’t move.

“We understood that he wasn’t worried at all, it was just some cramp.”