Koscielny leaves France national duty with Achilles injury

Not that you were hoping to wake up to an Arsenal injury story two days in a row, but here we are. Defender Laurent Koscielny has been sent home from duty with the French national team early, as there are worries about the Achilles tendon that's been bothering him for a while now. He will return to London for treatment rather than remaining with the national set-up.

There is good news, though -- it appears this injury is nowhere close to as serious as the knee injury that will likely keep Mesut Ozil out until 2015.

Eek #AFC Now Laurent Koscielny released by France due to achilles problem. Just a precaution they say. For more see @MailSport

— Matt Barlow (@Matt_Barlow_DM) October 9, 2014

What that means, according to the Daily Mail, is that he's mostly going home because the games this round don't matter for France. They're not playing Euro 2016 qualifiers, only a pair of friendlies against Portugal and Armenia, and there isn't really a good reason to risk Koscielny for that. It's expected that Koscielny will be fit enough to start next weekend against Hull City, so it may turn out that this is a blessing in disguise, giving the player time to rest and recover a bit.

We'll see if the other shoe drops, but right now this is looking like something less horrifying than the torture the Great Old Ones have imposed upon us so far this season.