Mikel Arteta has described the pain of Arsenal's Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City as a 'ball of poison' in his stomach, vowing to use the experience to drive his team to silverware this season. The Gunners were outplayed in the second half at Wembley, with two goals from Nico O'Reilly handing Pep Guardiola's side a psychological blow and ending Arsenal's hopes of an unprecedented quadruple.
Arteta refused to confirm whether Kepa Arrizabalaga would start in Saturday's FA Cup sixth-round tie at Southampton, after the reserve goalkeeper's mistake led to O'Reilly's opener. However, he defended the former Chelsea shot-stopper, saying: 'I'm never going to judge a player or make a decision because he's made an error. Attitude, behaviour, yes 100%. An error is part of football and anybody can do it.'
The Arsenal boss admitted the defeat would haunt him for 'the next 30 years', adding: 'During the first part, it's like a ball of poison that you have in your tummy. Take that out as quick as possible. How can I use that to make myself better, to make the team better? There is a part that I think has to be there and I think this is not going to go in the next 30 years. Because when you have the opportunity to win a final at Wembley, you have to get it done.'
Arteta confirmed that Declan Rice is operating at only 70% fitness, a situation that has 'been going on for a while', while Piero Hincapié and Noni Madueke are out of the Southampton game. Martin Ødegaard and Jurrien Timber could be in contention to play. The manager also addressed criticism over the large number of international withdrawals, saying: 'I think it's part of the narrative. But I understand that. I hope it's been the same when we had a lot of players from the national team injured in the past.'
