Mikel Arteta explains his reason for not playing Nicolas Pepe

Nicolas Pepe struggling to break into the first team.

The 26-year old hasn’t started for the Gunners since the middle of October and has been limited to part-time role this season.

Eddie Nketiah who is likely to leave the North London club by the end of this season is favoured by Arteta in most games.

Mikel Arteta insists that he only picks players who perform the best in training and Arsenal’s lack of mid-week games is causing such an imbalance in the squad.

‘It’s with all the players that they are not having a lot of minutes,’ Arteta said ahead of Saturday’s match against Leeds United.

‘With the amount of games we’re having there’s not enough room. With Nico’s situation it’s something similar.

‘He needs more opportunities to show what he can do and in the last games he hasn’t had them

‘I understand but again I have to try to make the decision based on what I see every day.

‘Nico is really willing to help the team. The reality is that in the position that he’s playing, Bukayo is there and has been fantastic.’

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