Jurrien Timber has finally returned to team training as part of his rehabilitation process for a prolonged knee ailment.

The Dutch player, who suffered an ACL tear during his first Premier League match in August, was warmly greeted by his teammates at a special training session at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

Jurrien Timber showed certainty in defense when he could not even complete 100% of Arsenal’s first team’s training plan.

A block made Bukayo Saka scream “BROOOOO!”. After that, there was a situation of observing, judging and effectively competing to block when the ball passed to the feet of young talent Ethan Nwaneri.

These plays show that Jurrien Timber has not lost confidence after a serious injury – but the opposite, Jurrien Timber is eager to return to contribute to Arsenal more than ever

It’s great that Jurrien has hit another milestone in his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered 50 minutes into the season. But it’s important to temper expectations, too.

From what I can tell, he is running on grass, working with the ball, and involved in some of the training drills that involve light contact. There are still a few steps in between where he is now and returning to the pitch in a match. He has not yet been cleared for full training with the team.

The return-to-play progression isn’t linear, either. It’s usually a step or two forward, then a pause, or even a half-step back. Every time an athlete ups their activity, i.e. from running to ball work to light contact to full contact, you have to see how they respond. The hope is that they feel fine and continue to improve. Often, however, they feel some soreness or discomfort and have to scale back or take a few days off.

It might be a few weeks before we see him really pushing for competitive minutes, but this is a big step forward, and hopefully his reintegration goes smoothly.

Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey also took part in the session, although Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko were not visible in the publicly released training pictures.

Arsenal’s next outing comes at Bramall Lane, when Mikel Arteta takes his side to South Yorkshire to face Sheffield United on Monday night, with the Gunners just two points adrift of leaders Liverpool.