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Nelson - You keep all the nerves inside you

Reiss Nelson on his full Premier League debut, against Southampton in April 2018
Reiss Nelson on his full Premier League debut, against Southampton in April 2018

Reiss Nelson’s hard work is paying off.

The 18-year-old got his first Premier League start on Sunday and showed glimpses of his obvious potential in our 3-2 win over Southampton.

“I’m just delighted, I’m really happy - all the hard work is paying off so I’m really happy and excited to push on even further,” Nelson told Arsenal.com.

“It’s been a normal week for me, training with the boys. On Thursday I spoke to the boss and he told me I might be in. From then I had it in the back of my mind that I could be starting, so I trained really hard on Friday and then the teamsheet came out and I was delighted to be starting.

“I just treated it as a normal game and I think that’s the best thing to do. Being involved with the first team, be it in the Premier League or the Europa League, you just have to take it as it comes. You keep all the nerves inside and just play your normal game.”

But Nelson will have to wait a while to move up the pecking order when it comes to dead balls. He takes free-kicks for the under-23s but made way for Granit Xhaka when Southampton were penalised 25 yards from goal in the first half.

“I wanted the free-kick!” said Nelson with a smile. “It’s one of those things but next time hopefully I can take it!”

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