Martin Odegaard says there’s “no time to feel sorry for ourselves” following our 1-0 defeat to West Ham United.
Our unbeaten league record at Emirates Stadium this season ended thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s header, on an afternoon where not much went right with Myles Lewis-Skelly being red-carded and us failing to find a way past Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola.
The opportunity to cut the gap between us and Liverpool at the top of the table was also missed, but with a huge game against high-flying Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, the skipper feels we have to put this loss swiftly behind us if we’re to stay in contention for the title.
“We’re really disappointed,” he admitted post-match. “It felt like we had a good chance today but the overall performance wasn’t good enough and that’s a big blow for everyone.
“We tried even with 10 men, we put a lot of pressure on them, but I think we lacked a bit of efficiency in the final third, the final pass, the final cross and we should have been sharper and better around the box.
“I think that’s what we missed today and also, we let them run a bit too easily a few times, so it’s a big blow and disappointing. We move on and we have to strike back in the next one straight away.
“It’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves, we have to keep going. There are still many games to be played, and we have to keep going. The main thing now is to win the next one and work from there.
The one positive of the day was seeing Ben White back in red and white, who made his first appearance since under going knee surgery in November as a late substitute.
He almost made it a fairytale return when he took aim in stoppage-time but saw his attempot whistle just past the post, but Martin is glad to see him back and hopes he can make a big impression going forward.
“It’s great to have him back,” he added. “He’s been out for a while and you could see straight away the quality he brings. That was the good news today but at the moment we’re disappointed, but it’s good to have him back.”