Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has called on his side to use the “pain” of their first defeat in six months as motivation for their Champions League meeting with Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Gunners lost ground on Premier League leaders Liverpool on Saturday after they were beaten 2-0 at Bournemouth following William Saliba’s first-half sending off.
Arsenal return to European action on Tuesday when they host Shakhtar at Emirates Stadium and Arteta wants his players to quickly “move on” after the loss.
“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 says winger Bukayo Saka will have to be assessed over his fitness after he missed the defeat by the Cherries with a hamstring issue picked up on England duty, while midfielder Martin Odegaard remains sidelined.
Odegaard has not played since September after he sustained an ankle injury during the international break with Norway.
“They are closer. They are both progressing really well,” said the Arsenal boss.
“Martin is still not fit. Let’s see how Bukayo is after training.”
Arteta also says defender Jurrien Timber could return after picking up a muscular injury during Arsenal’s last Champions League fixture against Paris St-Germain.
“He [Timber] is going to be close. We have to see how he deals with training with the whole group. It was a muscular injury,” added Arteta.
The Gunners are looking for their second win of the group stage after an opening stalemate with Atalanta was followed by victory over PSG.
Arteta said he had sympathy for the Ukrainians, who are forced to play ‘home’ games in Germany while the war continues in their own country.
“The things they have to put in place to be able to continue to play football matches at this level and compete in the way they do – it’s remarkable,” he said.
