Arteta praises Arsenal persistence and gives update on Rice after beating Hull

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta praised his side’s mentality after Martin Odegaard’s late goal secured a 1-0 victory over Hull City.

The Gunners were made to work for the three points, with Arteta admitting his side lacked efficiency in front of goal despite creating enough opportunities to make the scoreline more comfortable.

“I think we were the better team,” Arteta said.

“I think we had enough chances and situations to make the scoreline much bigger.

“We were not efficient enough to do that and then we have to rely on generating volume, generating a lot of situations in and around the box, insisting, insisting and insisting until we are able to break them down.

“And this is exactly how we won the game.”

Odegaard eventually made the breakthrough in the 72nd minute, reacting quickest after Noni Madueke’s effort was parried into his path.

“And Martin, the way he scores is not the most beautiful one, but the most effective one, which is a simple shoot and follow the next action,” Arteta added.

“And that was enough today to win the game.”

Arteta also paid tribute to his players and staff for coping with a demanding schedule.

“I think I need to praise the players and all the staff as well behind the scenes for the work that they are doing, because it’s been very, very demanding,” he said.

“We have very short time to recover from games with all the travel.

“But despite that, the mentality and the quality of the team is shown, it’s incredible.

“So we are in a really strong position.”

Arteta also played down any concern over Declan Rice after he was taken off in the second half, confirming simply: “Yeah, he’s fine.”