Zinchenko: “We need to show the right reaction"

Oleksandr Zinchenko says that Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace is a great chance to show a reaction to our recent run of results.

Prior to our warm weather training camp in Dubai, we’d suffered a run of four games without a win in all competitions, but Oleksandr hopes that, with the backing of supporters at Emirates Stadium, we can get a positive result against Roy Hodgson’s side this weekend.

“When things don’t work for you, sometimes you just need to work even harder,” he said. “This is the key and this is what I believe. Every single time we don’t have success or are losing, we need to show the right reaction. We need to show our best performance because this league is so tough.

“It’s going to be a tough game because this team are strong defensively. We know we need to react well and right after recent games so I hope, with our crowd and best performance of each player, we can have success.”

Looking beyond this weekend's game, our first-team squad have a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie to look forward to against FC Porto in February. 

Asked how the squad is coping with the return to Champions League football alongside Premier League duties this season, Oleksandr added: “We’re trying to help each other every single time and that’s what makes this team special because we feel like one family. Off the pitch and on the pitch we’re trying to improve ourselves.”