Cedric Soares has admitted that he is sometimes frustrated with a lack of chances at Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta has given the Portugal international just 188 minutes of Premier League football this season.
With Hector Bellerin gone on loan, it was assumed that Soares would play a lot more regularly.
It was Spaniard who rendered Soares something of a fringe player at Arsenal for much of the past two years.
But when Bellerin went, Arsenal signed Takehiro Tomiyasu and he is well ahead of Soares in the right-back pecking order.
And the former Southampton defender has admitted that when he’s not playing, he finds it difficult to love the game.
He told ESPN: “Of course, I’m sometimes disappointed that I don’t play [as much as] I want, this is normal.
“If a player is not disappointed when he doesn’t play, I will not lie to you, then he doesn’t love what he does.”
Bide time
What the Portuguese star has going for him is attitude.
He might be 31 and struggling for regular football under Arteta, but Soares has a solid mentality and one that makes him stand out in Arsenal training.
Tomiyasu looks set to be the Gunners’ first-choice option for this role for much of the season.
All Soares – who earns £75,000 per week – can do is continue asking the question of Arteta behind the scenes and as soon as the Japan international’s form drops, he’ll be available to step in immediately.
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