“He’s a player that deserves to play” – Mikel Arteta drops hint on playing time for Arsenal star who has yet to make a competitive appearance this season

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has claimed that defender Cedric Soares could still play a part in the Gunners' season despite his lack of game time so far.

The full-back has suffered numerous injury problems in recent times and hasn't played a minute throughout the entire campaign. Arsenal have plenty of excellent options at full-back, including Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchencko.

Ben White has made the right-back spot his own this season as the Gunners have won 13 out of their 14 encounters so far throughout the campaign. Following Arsenal's 1-0 triumph over PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, Arteta confirmed that Cedric will have to be patient to get his chance.

The Spanish boss did not close the door completely on the defender's Arsenal future when he was asked by reporters if it was hard to leave him out. Arteta replied (per HITC Sport):

“Well, obviously, yes. The competition is one thing. The second one is because he was injured for a while, and he had a recurring injury. But now he is fully fit, and he’s a player that deserves to play, and I want to give him the minutes because he deserves it.”

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Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal's job in the Europa League is not complete

The Gunners secured their passage into the Europa League knockout stages with a victory over the Dutch outfit but have yet to win the group.

The north London side will need to avoid defeat against PSV in the return leg next week to secure their position at the top of the standings, something which Arteta is determined to do. The Spaniard told reporters after the win (per Arsenal's official website):

"We are qualified so that’s the first step, so really pleased for doing that. Now, we want to achieve the second one which is to finish first in the group because we know the difference that’s going to make, in terms of the games that you have to play and against who, and that’s still something we have to do."

"In general, I’m really pleased with the performance with what the boys have shown, and we had some really dominant and good moments in the game. But we lacked a little bit in the final third, final actions, especially inside the box. To put more shots on target and score more goals, I think."