Interview

Nelson discusses clean sheet, Ljungberg and Arteta

Nelson

Saturday saw us field our youngest starting XI in a Premier League match since the final day of the 2010/11 season.

The average age of Freddie Ljungberg's side against Everton was 24 years and 50 days old and included four Hale End graduates, while another also featured from the bench.

Reiss Nelson was one of those who completed 90 minutes, and he spoke to the media after the game. This is what he said:

on the game...

They were playing very end to end, but I think Freddie just told us to be patient in our build-up and pick up the second balls. I think we did that.

on how important it was to keep a clean sheet...

We wanted to do that. It was one of our main targets. We wanted to win or keep a clean sheet away from home and we were able to keep the clean sheet. The young boys were excellent and it was a good achievement for us. 

on Mikel Arteta...

All the boys wanted to show him what we could do because it was his first time seeing us live. He watched us and we need to take that into our next games. We need to be confident in ourselves.

on whether Arteta had any input before the game...

He was just there for support, to give us a pat on the back and some inspiration. I think that helped a lot.

on whether it feels like the start of something special...

Of course. We played with an urgency, with pace and a big confidence. That started this afternoon so now we're ready to go.