Martin Odegaard admitted on Sunday that it’s an amazing feeling to be back on the pitch, despite being disappointed that Arsenal didn’t get the win away to Chelsea.
It’s fair to say that Martin Odegaard has struggled to find consistency in his minutes so far this season.
It was just his second game of the season when he picked up his first injury setback, then after two games back in action he suffered his second. Three games after that, the midfielder suffered the knee injury which kept him out of action until this week.
To be in December still waiting for four games in a row without an injury must be frustrating, so it’s no surprise that Odegaard told Arsenal.com on Sunday how good it feels to be playing again.
“It was amazing to be back out there,” Odegaard said. “I missed it a lot. It’s been a weird season for me. I’ve been out for a while now, but I was really focused on the result. So yes, it’s been a weird season for me, but I’m back out there and feeling good.”
The downside was obviously the result, with the Arsenal captain admitting that the team felt they should have taken all three points.
“Obviously, with the red card, we feel like we should have won the game and done a little bit better in certain areas of the game,” Odegaard conceded. “In the end, it was a tough battle and a point, so we’ll have to take that and move on, and make sure we win the next one.
“We wanted to come here and finish off the week with a win, but as I said, it was a tough battle. They were fighting really hard for it and we didn’t do enough to win the game, so we move on and now we just have to make sure we win the next one.”
That next one is at home to Brentford on Wednesday night, with Odegaard potentially available to make his first start since October 4th.
The 26-year-old played nine minutes against Bayern Munich last Wednesday, then 33 minutes against Chelsea, so he’s certainly getting closer to proving he’s fit for a start.
Arsenal fans will hope it isn’t long until one of the strikers is fit to start too, with Viktor Gyokeres coming off the bench on Sunday, and Gabriel Jesus making his first appearance in the squad since January.