Arteta reveals why Arsenal midfielder hasn’t played regularly this season

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has explained why Emile Smith Rowe has barely played for the Gunners this season.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup tie with Brentford on Wednesday night, Arteta said one of the reasons Smith Rowe has not featured for his team was because the midfielder was out for a long time.

The Spaniard also hinted that the 23-year-old could start for Arsenal against Brentford.

“Here he is incredibly popular. We all love him. It’s no different to what the people feel to what we feel about him,” Arteta said (via Football London).

“There is been many reasons why he hasn’t started a match. He was out for a long, long time. He had a sequence of matches that he played with the national team, then he came in and didn’t participate.”

He continued, “In the last two matches he’s played more minutes and tomorrow [Wednesday], he will have a big chance to show that he can play at this level and be a really important player for us.”

The kick-off time for the Brentford vs Arsenal game is 7.45 pm