Martin Odegaard only returned to the team on Saturday amid a hip problem (Picture: Getty)
Mikel Arteta has explained why he decided not to substitute Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard in the 6-0 Champions League victory over RC Lens.
Odegaard only returned to the team on Saturday in a 1-0 win at Brentford having missed Arsenal’s last three matches before that with a hip problem.
The Norway international played 90 minutes in the victory over the Bees and again played the full game against RC Lens just four days later.
Quizzed in his post-match press conference as to why he did not decide to give Odegaard a rest given that he has only recently returned from injury, Arsenal boss Arteta said: ‘We have five subs and we are very short in certain areas.
‘In the end we had to prioritise who to rest and as well he hasn’t accumulated that many minutes in the last six or seven weeks.
‘So we asked him how he was and he said he was fine. He managed himself a bit in the second half and he was fine.’
Odegaard scored in the win over RC Lens and he has now registered seven goal involvements across 17 appearances in all competitions this term.
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Meanwhile, Chris Sutton feels that Arteta showed ‘intent’ with such a strong team selection against RC Lens.
‘Mikel Arteta showed his intent with his team selection tonight and carrying on the momentum,’ he told the BBC. ‘They are building something here, it’s very impressive.’
Arsenal are back in action on Saturday when they host Wolves in the Premier League, looking to stay at the top of the table.
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‘We had to prioritise who to rest…’