Mikel Arteta has called on his Arsenal team to use the pain of their first loss in half a year to face Shaktar Donetsk in their Champions League clash on Tuesday.
The North London outfit were shocked following a 2-0 loss against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, after William Saliba was sent off in the opening half.
The result was a first loss since April, falling four points behind Liverpool — however, Arteta insists there is no cause for alarm.
“You have a defeat, that’s part of the game, it happens in very specific conditions as well,” he said.
“Let’s move on, take that pain we still have in the tummy and use it for tomorrow night.
“It puts a bit of perspective into the situation. Obviously, we want to win in any context. The reality is that we have made that context very difficult for ourselves.
“It was very difficult already with the amount of players that we had out and the schedule and the games that we had to play but that’s the reality.
“For that game, we didn’t get away with it. We could have done and it could have been a very different narrative but the reality is we didn’t. Another context is that we have lost one game in six months. Now we have to win again.”
Arteta also addressed the issue of red cards, after Saliba became the third Arsenal player to be sent off in eight Premier League games this season, following red cards for Declan Rice against Brighton and Hove Albion and Leandro Trossard at Manchester City.
“Playing with 10 men, obviously that is an issue.
“The truth is when you analyse the three very different actions and the outcome of them, the reasons are very different.
“Regardless of that, we cannot continue to play with 10 men, especially at this level.
“We need to eradicate that, it’s clear. Why, the reason and how – it doesn’t matter, we have to focus, it has to happen.”
