Danny Welbeck to miss out on Arsenal's FA Cup fifth-round match against Sutton United because of plastic pitch concerns

'The plastic pitch at Sutton isn’t the best idea at the moment,' the forward wrote on Twitter

Welbeck will not be risked at Gander Green Lane (Getty Images)

Danny Welbeck will miss out on Arsenal’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Sutton United because of concerns over the non-league side’s artificial 3G pitch.

The England international featured for Arsenal’s Under-23 side on Sunday, playing 70 minutes in the Premier League 2 fixture against Leicester. Arsenal lost 2-1.

Welbeck, 26, has suffered two significant knee injuries in the past two years and only made a return to the first-team last month.

And after starring in the youth-team clash for Arsenal he took to Twitter to reveal that he will play no part in the FA Cup clash.

“Glad to get 70 minutes today to build up my match fitness,” he wrote. “Plastic pitch at Sutton isn’t the best idea at the moment.”

Welbeck has made six appearances for Arsenal since returning from his second serious knee injury in January.


 Welbeck will not be risked against Sutton 
 (Getty)

However he has started just one of those games, in the last round of the FA Cup against Southampton.

Welbeck was thought to be in the frame for a start at Gander Green Lane on Monday night but Arsene Wenger clearly has doubts over letting the injury-prone forward okay on the surface.

Sutton have a FieldTurf Vertex pitch, installed by Newbury-based sports construction company S&C Slatter in July 2015 for a price of £500,000.