Ray Parlour reacts to Reiss Nelson’s display in Arsenal’s FA Cup win

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Ray Parlour has told talkSPORT that Reiss Nelson is certainly the future for Arsenal after the youngster provided both assists in the Gunners’ 2-0 FA Cup win over Portsmouth.

Mikel Arteta’s men are through to the quarter-final of the FA Cup after their victory at Fratton Park. Sokratis and Eddie Nketiah bagged the decisive goals for the visitors.

But both goals were set up by the same player. Nelson produced two wonderful crosses for the two goals, with his second assist a particular thing of beauty.

And following the win, Parlour insisted that he has extremely high hopes for the 20-year-old – though he did offer one suggestion for how Nelson can take his game to the next level.

“You can see his pace, certainly on the second goal. The way he went past the left-back, once he dropped his shoulder and pushed it on, he was gone,” he told talkSPORT. “And you can’t catch someone like that. He’s a very impressive player. He’s certainly the future for Arsenal on that side.

“If I’m going to have one criticism of him, he’s got to believe in himself a bit more. He’s such a good player. I think he’s got to demand the ball a lot more on that side and run at players a little bit more.”

TBR View – Nelson stakes big claim

It was a fantastic performance from the youngster given that he has not played for Arteta’s side since January. And Arsenal fans will be hoping that it is a sign of what is to come.

Arteta has shown that he is more than happy to put his faith in young players in the Premier League. Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah now look to be integral parts of his plans at the Emirates.

And following his moments of brilliance on Monday night, Nelson has staked a real claim for a lot more game-time during the coming months.