It has been a long road back for Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney, but they are closing in on making a consistent returns to the first team.

Both have featured in recent weeks, so could they continue their progress against Standard Liege on Thursday night?



"Tierney still needs time and confidence, training and playing," Unai Emery said. "Thursday is a good opportunity again, because he is ready to play. He will take minutes, he will take confidence and will be able with us to show also his progress.

"He didn't play in Manchester because he had a small problem - not important - but the doctor told us that it's better for him to be here, working alone and preparing for the match tomorrow.



"We are with him, taking precaution, it's also important with the national team and we are thinking it is not the moment to work with them. For the next matches, I think he is going to be ready to play with us and to play with them.



"Hector Bellerin is the same, but with a small difference. Because he was injured for more time and after a long time, nine months, I think he needed to first play 15 minutes with us last week, perfect, the first minutes.



"He played with the under-23s for taking confidence and he was doing actions on the pitch to feel good and to repeat them when the level is higher. For example, for tomorrow, we are thinking that it depends on the training that we are going to do now on how he is feeling. But if he is feeling well, then normally, he is going to play."