David Raya Praises Arsenal Returning Captain,Martin Odegard

David Raya Praises Arsenal Returning Captain,Martin Odegard

David Raya departed the Stamford Bridge pitch frustrated with only a point after we drew 1-1 with Chelsea.

The shot-stopper felt we were full value for the victory in west London, having taken the lead through Gabriel Martinelli but two points slip away after he was beaten by Pedro Net’s pinpoint strike.

But he heaped praise on his teammates for the way they pushed themselves against one of the league’s in-form teams and came so close to netting late on with Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino going close to salvaging that elusive win.

“I think we deserved more,” he assessed pitchside post-match. “I think we showed really good character, especially from the start of the game, going for that win. We created the chances, we had that goal disallowed and we scored.

“The character of the team to come to a difficult place, especially with the form that Chelsea are in, and showing what we showed is really important and remarkable from the players.

“Of course, we are going to be disappointed, but sometimes when you cannot win the games, make sure you don’t lose it and that’s what happened today. I think even when we conceded the goal we went for the win, we tried to push ourselves to score.  We created the chances, we pushed them back, we got the ball off them and it’s just because of the character of the players.”

The squad were handed a boost this week with Martin Odegaard returning to fitness after two months out with an ankle injury, and despite minimal training and playing time, he started at the Bridge and played all 90 minutes, notching an assist in the process.

David revealed the team are thrilled to have him back available, and feels that he’ll be key going forward as we look to recover from a sticky patch between the two international breaks and rediscover our form for the visit of Nottingham Forest in a fortnight.

“We know how important Martin is for us, not just on the pitch but off the pitch as well,” he added. “He drives us, he gives us that extra edge, of course, he’s the club captain as well. He just shows on the pitch the quality he has and what he gives to the team, so we’re really happy to have him back.

“The most important thing is the next game, so we just go step-by-step, game-by-game, training-by-training and that’s the most important thing. It’s too long to think ahead and stuff like that so make sure we’re still in the present and that’s it, just go game-by-game.”