Mikel Arteta has urged Martin Ødegaard to continue "driving the standards" from the sidelines after confirming the Arsenal captain will be out for several weeks with a knee injury.
Ødegaard was forced off during the first half of his side's 2-0 win over West Ham on Oct. 4.
The 26-year-old's campaign has been blighted by injury to date, becoming the first Premier League player ever to be substituted before half-time in three consecutive starts after suffering setbacks against Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and then West Ham.
Those issues were related to ongoing management of a shoulder problem but this latest setback is unrelated.
"It will be weeks [out], no definite date for his return but he is evolving well," Arteta told a news conference on Friday.
"Very unlucky what is happening with him and his injuries this season but I think he will be back in a few weeks. It could be but we will have to see how he progresses, how the knee is healing. It is too early to give an answer.
"I think he is in a really good place. Obviously he is disappointed how it happened. The good thing is he does everything he possibly can to prevent injuries.
"The injuries that he had, they are very, very difficult to prevent so that is something you [take the] weight off yourself. And that's it. And then, he cannot afford to be in a different mindset.
"He is the captain, he needs to drive the standards, he needs to be the example, he needs to bring the energy next to that. That's it. When you don't have an option, if you are a Dad, you have to look after your kids, that's it. You are good, you are tired, you have to be there. That's his responsibility in the team."
Ødegaard, who has started just five games this season, will miss Saturday's trip to Fulham but Piero Hincapié, Ben White and Martín Zubimendi are all expected to be available.
Viktor Gyökeres is set to lead the line at Craven Cottage as he seeks to end a six-game goal drought after also failing to score in two games away on international duty with Sweden.
Arsenal spent €73.5 million ($86m) to sign Gyökeres from Sporting CP this summer and he has scored three goals in ten games to date.
"He brings so much to the team and watching the games back, I'm very pleased with what he's given to the team," Arteta said.
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"I told him before the first meeting, I said, 'the nine that I want is a nine that when he doesn't score for six or eight games, he can handle that. If not, you have to go somewhere else because the pressure is on, the expectation is going to be there.
"So, if you put it on a nine shirt on for Arsenal, you have to be able to say, 'OK, six games, don't score. Am I'm a different player, I start to act in a different way?' I want much more of the same of what he's doing. Once we have those opportunities, I'm sure it's going to happen."