Need to stay focus …Partey makes strong statement to Arsenal players

Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey has indicated that the Arsenal team is more confident when it isn’t missing players through injury but called for his team to focus on winning games and not injured players.

He said this after calling for Arsenal to learn from mistakes that have led to three dismissals for Arsenal players in six games.

Speaking in the post-game interview after Arsenal’s 2-0 loss to AFC Bournemouth that had William Saliba sent off, Partey touched on the injury absence of key players including Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber.

“I think we need all the players. It’s important when you have a full squad, you are more confident but we are a team, we are working hard…I think we have to work hard to focus on the game and not on our missing players.”

Partey has also called for the Gunners to avoid getting sent off in games to help the club to win games.

He said this in an interview with NBC after Arsenal lost 2-0 to AFC Bournemouth in the English Premier League with defender William Saliba getting sent off in the 30th minute. Bournemouth scored both goals in the second half.

Saliba’s dismissal marked the third time this season that an Arsenal player has been sent off after Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice got red carded in games against Manchester City and Brighton respectively.

“We try to win our duels and sometimes these things happen, sometimes you cannot control it. We just have to stick together, continue working and red cards do happen in games so I think at the end of the day, it’s part of football. We have to learn from every mistake we do and try to not let it happen” Partey said.

He added that, “Anytime we are 11 players on the pitch, we always dominate the game and we win the game “

Arsenal take on Shaktar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League on October 22 at 19:00 GMT.