Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has stressed Joe Willock’s chance to impress in the Premier League will come after the youngster once again impressed in the club’s 4-1 win over Molde in the Europa League on Thursday.
The 21-year-old helped the Gunners overturn an early deficit by forcing two own goals before rounding out the scoring in the 88th minute.
Willock has featured in all three of Arsenal’s Europa League games to date but is yet to make a Premier League appearance for Arteta’s side this campaign.
The Gunners boss liked what he saw from the promising midfielder on Thursday, however, and hinted his chance to play on the domestic front again will come in time.
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“Joe Willock could have scored more, he created a goal and a good performance,” Arteta told BT Sport post-match. “Keep doing what he is doing consistently and his chance will arrive [in the Premier League].
“I really like the approach that the younger players are having for each game, they want to make the difference, they are playing with a lot of personality.
“It was really important for us to win tonight and go top of the group. We had a convincing victory and the boys tried to go for them from the first minute. We went a goal behind but it was about the reaction, we created lot of chances.
“If they did not score the own goals, we had players there for the tap in. We could sustain attacks and we did not want to let them run on the counter because they are a threat.”
Willock, who made 29 Premier League appearances last season, is happy to wait for his chance to impress and is ready to take any opportunity with both hands.
“I’m just taking it game by game. It’s part of my journey and I’m just a kid. I have to keep learning. I’m trying to work hard and when I get a chance in the Premier League, hopefully I can do the same thing,” Willock told BT Sport.
On the Molde match and his goal, Willock added: “In the first half they started really sharp and we had to stick with it. We didn’t get frustrated. I had a couple of chances earlier in the game but I wasn’t making a mistake with that one.”
