Mikel Merino says Arsenal cannot afford to use injuries as a reason to allow their form to slip.
The Gunners faced a defensive crisis in their preparations Premier League title clash with Liverpool on Sunday, with Riccardo Calafiori missing with a knee problem to complement William Saliba’s suspension – the Frenchman returned to the Carabao Cup win over Preston North End.
Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber had to be kicked out, and left arsenal to finish the tie 2-2 with a backline of Thomas Partey, Ben White, Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly. The aforementioned couple are He is said to have avoided major injurybut the club are now five points off Manchester City after a defeat and a draw in their last two games.
Speaking ahead of the Preston clash, Merino said: “The message is simple: this team will not lose focus, will never give up, whatever the situation or the time of year.
“The goal is to go 100% and learn from each game. We focus only on ourselves and what we can do to win each game. We don’t look outside the team, despite this result, we don’t look too far ahead, we let’s focus on the present. This is our mentality and it is the one that will bring us success in the future.
“Injuries are part of the game and cannot be an excuse for results. Injuries have pros and cons, one of the pros is that we see young players making their debuts and getting involved.
“As a club, you want to bring in young players from the academy, give them opportunities and you can see that this is a club where everyone is capable of doing a very good job even though we don’t have important players like Martin (Odegaard). ) available
“In football things happen – sometimes you get kicked, sometimes you get touched, but I couldn’t miss the game (against Liverpool). I got up and kept playing, that’s all.”
Manager Mikel Arteta too fitness issues elsewhere in your squadwith Martin Odegaard in the final stages of his rehabilitation from an ankle knock, while Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are sidelined with knee and ankle complaints respectively.
