Mikel Arteta warned not to ’embarrass’ Arsenal star after Nottingham Forest draw

Mikel Arteta has been warned not to ’embarrass’ Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres after the Gunners’ draw with Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal failed to fully capitalise on title rivals Manchester City’s derby defeat to Manchester United earlier in the day as they could only draw with relegation-battlers Forest.

Mikel Arteta’s side had the chance to go nine points clear at the top of the league but were unable to break down Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest.

£64m summer signing Viktor Gyokeres started at the City Ground but struggled to make an impact before being replaced by Gabriel Jesus with half an hour remaining.

Gyokeres did score in Arsenal’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg win over Chelsea during the week but has now only netted one Premier League goal since the start of November.

Despite Gyokeres’ unconvincing form and the return of previously injured forwards Jesus and Kai Havertz, Tim Howard does not expect Arteta to drop the ex-Sporting striker in the immediate future.

The former Premier League goalkeeper says it is natural for Arteta to ‘manage the situation’ going forward but has warned him against ’embarrassing’ a player Arsenal signed to solve their goalscoring problems.

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Asked whether he expects Arteta to drop Gyokeres, Howard told NBC Sports: ‘It’s a big call, I say no because he was the striker that were desperate to get.

‘They spent the money and went out and got him in the summer. Mikel Arteta needs to manage the situation really well.

‘I think he can drop him, I do, because he has enough games and players where he can manage the situation.

‘But he can’t hook him at half-time or embarrass him in any way because he still needs to get the best out of him.’

Discussing Arsenal’s performance against Nottingham Forest, Howard added: ‘They’re going to have days like this.

‘Arsenal usually do such a great job at set-pieces and just wearing you down, they usually break teams down eventually.

‘I think Mikel Arteta will be disappointed with his substitutions, he brought on some impact players from the bench and he would have thought the game would turn and they would apply more pressure.

‘But none of the substitutions made any real impact – Arteta will be disappointed with that.’

Arteta, meanwhile, was keen to take the positives from Arsenal’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest.

‘We obviously wanted to win the game, we knew the game was going to be very tough and very close as well from the way that they play,’ he said.

‘We created four big, big, big chances and a clear penalty, but we weren’t able to win the game.

‘We could’ve been better, but as well, this is happening all around the league for every single team. We have to improve and be better, especially when we create four big chances, you have to put them away.

‘You have to produce that moment. We’ve created certain moments, but credit to them as well because they are very well-organised and they disrupt your momentum in clever ways all the time.

‘We knew that. We tried to at the end find a goal. I don’t think we conceded a single shot, again. But that’s the margins and we didn’t find a way to win it.’

The big games keep on coming for Arsenal, who face Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday before taking on Manchester United next weekend.

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