[UPDATE] Arsenal vs Southampton: Arteta confident of victory

Mikel Arteta feels confident of a bounce back ahead of their Friday night fixture against bottom-placed Southampton at the Emirates Stadium.

The Spanish manager insisted Arsenal can rejuvenate their confidence after their inconsistency in their last two matches which ended in a 2-2 scoreline against Liverpool and West Ham.

“I’m very confident. Twists and turns are part of anything you do, especially in football,” Arteta said in a Pre-match conference

“Whatever the aim or the target is, it is not going to go in a linear progression.

“You have to know that and prepare for that; and the way the team reacted this week is incredibly positive and we want to see that tomorrow night.

Currently, there are no positive updates on center-back William Saliba despite being spotted in the gym at the training facility of the club.

Arteta acknowledged that his recovery would not come in rapid as desired, but confirmed that the Frenchman is willing to put in the effort to return to full fitness for the Gunners.

“Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more,” the coach said,

“He’s not progressing as quickly as we hoped and it is a bit delicate so we want to be certain that when we push him, he’s ready to absorb the load and the risk that we’ll take, and that’s not possible at the moment.”

Arsenal’s next trial after the Southampton clash is the fixture that could decide the title race when they travel to the Etihad Stadium to face defending English champions Manchester City on Wednesda