Steve Gatting spoke to Arsenal.com after his side's 4-2 win against Aston Villa on Tuesday night. Here is a transcript of the interview:
on the overall performance…
It was a pleasing result. We had an experienced side, a lot of players coming back from long-term injuries or some who had not played for three or four weeks. It was a game which they needed for their match fitness and at times I thought we played good, attacking, creative football.
on the first-half display…
We took our chances well. We got around the back of them and finished from crosses. We got players in the box supporting them and it was a game where we went 4-0 up perhaps not playing our best football overall. At times in the final third we were excellent.
on possibly scoring more than four…
It could have been. It was a game where at times we lost a bit of concentration in our passing. Aston Villa pressed us and made us play the ball quickly - at times we played through it, at other times we didn't. But we did get around the back of them and we could have scored a few more goals.
on the second-half display…
In the second half we said once you're 4-0 up it's about good habits now and a good attitude for the second half. We could have gone either way, we could have scored early on but we didn't. Villa had to press us, which they did well and times we didn't play through it. They scored those two goals and then we got a little bit nervous, we got tired. A lot of players were playing their first game for a long time. We got tired on a heavy pitch but we kept in there.
on Benik Afobe's performance…
Benik was excellent. It's the first 90 minutes he's played since his long-term injury, he's trained really well and credit to the boy, he's come through and played that sort of intensity for 90 minutes.
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