Arteta says Tavares is ‘ready’ to play vs Brighton

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Nuno Tavares struggled against Crystal Palace on Monday night but Mikel Arteta says he is ready to play for Arsenal this weekend.

Tavares may well be needed when the Gunners host Brighton due to the injury to Kieran Tierney which could keep him out of Scotland’s World Cup play-off at the end of the season.

Arteta told his pre-match press conference that the 22-year-old defender is ready to get back out there against the Seagulls, as Arsenal try and get back to winning ways as soon as possible.

“Throughout your career you have to go through difficult moments, and he’s had some really good periods since he arrived at the club and he was playing many more minutes than he was probably expecting,” he said.

“That’s the life of a player, especially at that age. There’s ups and downs and we are here to try and help him and make his career better, and that’s what we’re going to do.

“He is ready and he is willing, and he will be disappointed, but it’s part of the job and we have to make decisions to try to win football matches. There is nothing personal there. Always I speak with the players and I spoke with Nuno because I care about how they feel.

“We are here to help them and make their careers better. That was a decision that hurt him, obviously, but he understands that it was for the benefit of the team and he respects that. Now he needs to react to that situation because he has a great opportunity to learn a lot in that period of his career.”

Tavares took to Instagram to address the half-time substitution against Palace and it is clear that he has the support of his teammates.

But the best way to move on from it is with a strong performance in a clean sheet as Arsenal get a win on the board against Brighton.

And there has to be consistency in the Premier League run-in to seal that spot in the top four which is still very much up for grabs.