Mikel Arteta told Sky Sports that Arsenal goalkeeper Mat Ryan ‘trains like a beast’.
The 29-year-old was handed just his second Premier League start since his switch from Brighton to Arsenal in January on Sunday during his side’s 1-1 draw with Fulham.
It’s going to take a lot to dethrone a player of Bernd Leno’s qualities in between Arsenal’s sticks.
But Arsenal fans will be grateful to hear that players like Ryan, who play very little, are still keeping the standards pretty high in training.
“It’s rotation,” said Arteta. “It’s a precaution. There are players who haven’t recovered from the game (Slavia Prague).
“We have to be very careful because we don’t want to lose them and then there are others that deserve to play.
“For example, we put Mat in goal today because he trains like a beast. He’s been really positive around the place. He is doing really well and he deserves a chance as well.”
It will be interesting to see with Arsenal putting more of their eggs into the Europa League basket whether Ryan will continue in goals for the Gunners in the Premier League.
He didn’t do much wrong on Sunday afternoon against Fulham, with Eddie Nketiah being the star of the show with his late, late goal.
Arsenal fans will feel it was justified because they would question whether Fulham deserved a penalty, but in the end, Nketiah, who only came on for the injured, Alexandre Lacazette, did the business.
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