Mikel Arteta admits he was not expecting Rob Holding to be fit in time to face Manchester United. The defender put in an assured performance.
Mikel Arteta was pleased with the performance of Rob Holding on his return from injury against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The 25-year-old was ruled out for the Gunners with an injury during their 1-0 loss to Manchester City last month.
Holding was not expected to be fit in time to feature against Manchester United but he made a swift recovery just before the game.
The defender was drafted in the heart of the Gunners’ defense alongside Gabriel Magalhaes and helped keep a clean sheet against the Red Devils.
Mikel Arteta says he was impressed by Holding particularly because the defender just returned from injury.
“I think he had one session [before the game],” Mikel Arteta said to the club’s official website. “We didn’t expect him to be back so quickly, to be fair.”
“Thanks to the medical staff for the work that they’ve done, but that’s the culture that we’re trying to create. Rob has this determination and he’s willing all the time to play and improve and work hard. He put himself on the line when we needed him and it was an incredible performance.”
Holding also said he was pleased to see his side win and break their barren run at Old Trafford.
“Yeah, happy with the performance and the clean sheet. We’ve not won here in 14 years in the league so it’s nice to get that off our backs,” he said to the club’s website.
“The team’s just improving and hopefully we can just keep this momentum.”
“I knew it from the past two years we’ve been here. The last time I played here was the ACL injury, so it was nice to come here and put that to bed to come away with a win.”
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