Declan Rice has admitted his anxiety levels are through the roof while playing for Arsenal with the pressure on to ‘win every game’ in their search of trophies.
Mikel Arteta’s side secured a tense victory against Leicester on Saturday after James Justin’s double cancelled out goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.
But with nerves jangling around the Emirates, an own goal from Wilfried Ndidi edged Arsenal back in front before Kai Havertz struck late on to wrap up the three points.
The result kept the Gunners firmly in the Premier League title hunt and Rice, speaking post-match, said he and his team-mates are aware they must be faultless.
‘The anxiety’s through the roof because you know the pressure of playing for Arsenal, you have to win every game,’ he told reporters, via The Mirror.
Declan Rice has admitted his anxiety levels are through the roof while playing for Arsenal
Rice (left) said he and his team-mates are aware of the pressure of needing to win every game
‘If you want to win Premier Leagues and cups and titles and compete at the top, you need to be at your best and you need to win otherwise the pressure mounts.
‘When that second goal went in for them, obviously one thought is we can’t lose this game, we have to keep going. At the end it was like a sigh of relief because we won.
‘That was probably the most comfortable we’ve been in the first half all season in terms of passing and dominating the ball.
‘So there’s lots of positives to take but still so much to improve on and as the season goes on, I’m sure you’re going to keep seeing the best of us.’
Rice also believes the mental strength of Arsenal’s squad was on full display.
The midfielder added: ‘Look, we always believe in what we do. That comes from the manager that we keep pushing.
‘We’ve got a set of lads on the pitch who are ready to do anything to win.’
Mikel Arteta praised the show of resilience from his players, saying: ‘It got very emotional. More emotional than we wanted certainly.
Arsenal secured a dramatic victory against Leicester to continue their Premier League title bid
Mikel Arteta praised the show of resilience from his players and their ability to keep their heads
‘But I’m very pleased with the amount of situations that we created, how we dominated the game. After 2-0, the result should have been bigger, much bigger.
‘But this is the Premier League, this is the quality and the quality of Leicester. They scored two goals. But I’m really happy with how we dealt with that situation after.
‘Emotionally super controlled, doing what we had to do, how consistently we attacked the spaces. I think we deserved to win the game.’
