Here is every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup clash with Portsmouth

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta attends a press conference before clash with Portsmouth

Mikel Arteta spoke to the press ahead of his Arsenal side’s FA Cup third-round clash with Portsmouth. The Gunners will not, as they have done in previous seasons, wear their ‘No More Red’ shirts; instead, they are expected to wear the usual red and white.

The club are committed to supporting the cause which aims to tackle the problems surrounding knife crime, however. Arteta spoke about the possibility of welcoming back Kai Havertz to the group after a spell on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Piero Hincapie who came off against Liverpool might have suffered a potential hamstring problem, it is understood. However, Arteta was speaking in the wake of the Liverpool match on Thursday night with little clarity at the time able to be given.

Here is every word from the press conference:

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You mentioned previously in a press conference that you had a game in mind for when Kai might come back, can I just ask you, is this the game that you see maybe for Kai to come back?

If everything goes well, I think so. I think he’s going to be in the squad again in the next few days. He trains well, he’s increased his load, he’s coping with that really well. And it will be great if we can have him.

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Is there a feeling that maybe sometimes you need to temper expectations on the outside, when a player has missed so much football, about what they might bring when they do come back?

Yes, but I understand this is the level as well. And when a player has the chance to put our shirt on and compete for us, you know that the demands are excellence – and that’s it. Kai is aware of that.

Last time you went to Portsmouth, March 2020, you probably had Covid…

I don’t know what it was, but I wasn’t feeling great, to be fair.

What do you remember about that period, because obviously it was the start of an incredible time for the whole world?

The moment that we scored the goal, I was desperate to go home because I was shaking and not feeling great. So that’s what I remember. It’s been a while!

There’s all this talk around the team, that final step of winning trophies, obviously, you won the FA Cup that year. Do you feel you get the credit you deserve for winning that trophy, particularly in those circumstances, because it was such a surreal time?

I don’t know. At the end, I think we have to get judged, and we get judged for what we do today – and last week is not important. We will get judged for what we are able to do at the end of the season. One thing is the trophies for our football clubs, and many other things that you have to do in a football club, especially in the situation we are in. I don’t expect that, I’m really happy where I am with the people that I work with, and hopefully, at least they know that we will give our very best to try to win as much as possible.

Given you lifted that trophy in an empty stadium, how much does that make you want to lift a trophy with your own fans?

And the big ones as well. We want that one for sure – and the big ones. And that’s what we are chasing, that’s the purpose of this team.

Do you think you’ll need to make many changes for this cup tie?

Well, let’s see who is available and if some players can be back for that game. But we have to manage [it], obviously, because what is coming again in the next few weeks. I think we have four away games in different competitions, and we have to make sure that everybody is participating, we continue to perform and win games. And we’re going to have to manage that one.