Emile Smith Rowe wasn’t fully fit for the Crystal Palace game on Monday night, but went on to make two 90-minute appearances in the next five days.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal celebrates scoring the third goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on October 22, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal celebrates scoring the third goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on October 22, 2021. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Emile Smith Rowe was Arsenal’s star man on Friday night, bagging a goal and an assist against the club that bid for him twice over the summer. Yet Mikel Arteta admitted afterwards that the midfielder wasn’t even fully fit at the start of the week.

Arteta explained that Smith Rowe had a recent injury that he still hadn’t completely shaken off, but he wanted to play against Crystal Palace to help overcome it.

Since then, he’s completed two 90-minute matches in five days.

“Emile was terrific, he’s scoring goals, but I feel it was more about the team today,” Arteta said.

“Scoring should be a habit and he should demand that in his game as he’s capable of doing it. He’s developing more in other areas.

“The other night, he wasn’t 100 per cent fit but he wanted to step forward with the injury he had. He’s changing his ways in terms of the eating habits that he had and I thought he was superb.

“This was an example of why we wanted to keep him and we’re very happy with him.”

Smith Rowe did struggle with injury problems as a younger player, still growing and experiencing some issues related to that growth.

But 2021 has been his most consistent calendar year in senior football.

Arsenal fans will remember when Smith Rowe broke back into the team after injury against Chelsea on Boxing Day in 2020, and he’s never really looked back.

After missing just a handful of games for the remainder of that campaign, the 21-year-old has only missed a single game this season so far, sitting on the bench away to West Brom in the League Cup.

From the other 10 matches, Smith Rowe has started eight and come off the bench in two. Evidently there was a minor injury concern ahead of this week, but he’s come through it looking better than ever.

All the same, Arteta should probably hand Smith Rowe a rest in the League Cup on Tuesday.