Rob Holding: Arsenal’s confidence has returned after back-to-back wins

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Arsenal defender Rob Holding says the squad’s confidence is back and their aim is to now go on a run of wins that will fire them up the Premier League table.

The Gunners beat Chelsea 3-1 on Boxing Day in what was their first League win since beating Manchester United on November 1.

They duly followed it up by beating Brighton 1-0 on Tuesday night, with Alexandre Lacazette coming off the bench to score the only goal of the game.

The win pushed Arsenal up to 13th in the Premier League and they are now six points off Aston Villa, who are fifth.

And asked how big a boost putting back-to-back wins together is after beating Chelsea and Brighton, Holding replied: “It is a massive confidence boost for us.

“Obviously we went through that really rough patch, but as soon as we got a win it gave us a lift. 

“Now we’ve got another win and hopefully now we can go on a bit of a run, pick up points and climb up the table.

“Fingers crossed we can climb the league and get back into European places and push on.”

As with Chelsea, manager Mikel Arteta handed chances to Arsenal’s youngsters against Brighton.

Teenagers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli started, while Emile Smith Rowe also kept his place in the side.

Smith Rowe has long been tipped for the top at Arsenal and the 20-year-old is relishing getting his chance to shine.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said.

“It’s a dream for me to play for this club. I’m so happy and grateful that the manager’s shown faith in me and given me the chance.

“I’ve just got to keep training hard, and then when I get the opportunity I’ve got to take it.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in