Head coach confirms Henrikh Mkhitaryan is fit to return following injury suffered in December
Thursday 7 February 2019 19:24, UK
Unai Emery admits Arsenal need to turn around their troubling away form, and insists nobody is more critical of his performance than himself.
The Gunners have not won in their last six Premier League matches away from the Emirates Stadium, which has contributed to them lying sixth in the table, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Arsenal's current run of results away from home under Emery is not as bad as the seven successive away defeats they suffered under Arsene Wenger last season, but the head coach knows they need to improve.
Emery said: "My first critic is myself. We can make the top four, but we know it's not easy.
"We are strong at home, but I think we need to do better away. We started very well, changing our mentality to get more points away. But now we need to recover our confidence and performance.
"Also we know defensively we need to do better. We tried to play with three and two centre-backs. Be passionate, be calm but above all work."
Ahead of Arsenal's next away game - against bottom-of-the-table Huddersfield - Emery paid tribute to departing head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat.
The German leaves the Emirates on Friday, and Emery said: "I worked with him for eight months. My relationship with him is good. He is a very good scout. I worked well with him.
"The decision between him and the club, I don't know exactly. I wish him good luck in the future."
Emery also confirmed Henrikh Mkhitaryan is in contention to return to the Arsenal side having recovered from the foot injury that has kept him out of action since December.
"We thought he was not fit enough to play against Manchester City," explained Emery. "But this week, after playing with the U23s and working with us, it is the first time I can think of him with us."
