Abou Diaby latest: Arsenal midfielder plays 90 minutes for Under-21's as he continues long road to recovery

Diaby featured in the 2-0 win over Aston Villa's Under-21's on Thursday and could be in line for a return to action later this month

Abou Diaby (Getty Images)

Abou Diaby’s long and tedious road to recovery continued on Thursday night as the Arsenal midfielder emerged unscathed from a 90-minute run-out for the Under-21’s as they secured a 2-0 win over Aston Villa’s youngsters.

Diaby is still recovering from knee surgery after suffering a serious knee ligament injury in March 2013, which effectively ruled him out of the entire 2013-14 season bar a short cameo appearance in Arsenal’s final match of the season against Norwich.

He returned to pre-season action with high hopes that the worst was behind him, but picked up a hip injury in the defeat to New York Red Bulls during the summer and subsequently missed the start of the season.

Yet the problem proved to be not too serious, and he made his second Under-21 appearance last night in front of 377 fans at Villa Park. Diaby may have been the biggest name on show, but it was young striker Chuba Akpom who stole the show as he continued his impressive development with both goals.

Diaby maintained a solid presence in the centre of midfield, and provided a timely reminder of his skills with the ball at his feet as he threaded the occasional through-ball between Villa’s defence in an effort to release the pacey Akpom.

Other promising youngsters given a run out included defenders Hector Bellerin and Isaac Hayden while highly-rated midfield Gedion Zelalem continued his development through the Arsenal ranks with another strong performance. However, none of them were able to outshine Akpom as he capped breaking the club’s 10m sprint record earlier this week with a match-winning brace.

Francis Coqulin and Diaby arrive at Villa Park ahead of the match (Getty Images)

With Diaby on the road to recovery, his declaration of fitness will be the closest thing to a new signing that Arsenal could hope for during the season. The Frenchman has played just 1092 minutes of first-team football for the Gunners since the beginning of the 2012/13 season, but if he can string a few more appearances together, he could make a return to action in Arsenal’s League Cup third round encounter against Southampton on the 23rd September.