‘He is growing’ – Mikel Arteta singles out Albert Sambi Lokonga for praise after Arsenal’s draw with Burnley

Mikel Arteta singled out Albert Sambi Lokonga for praise after Arsenal’s frustrating goalless draw with Burnley and said the Gunners summer signing is ‘growing’ and getting ‘better and better’.

Arsenal missed the chance to return to the Premier League’s top four as they were held to a 0-0 draw by bottom-placed Burnley.

Alexandre Lacazette went closest to breaking the deadlock, poking an effort wide with Nick Pope out of his goal, but Arsenal largely flattered to deceive and were booed off by the home fans.

The draw means Arsenal have now gone five matches without a win and stay sixth in the Premier League, two points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

Arteta cut a frustrated figure after the stalemate in north London but singled out Sambi Lokonga for praise, with the Belgium international quickly developing into a first-team regular at the Emirates following his £18m move from Anderlecht last summer.

‘I think he is growing, he is playing better and better,’ Arteta said. ‘I think he had a really good game the other day against Liverpool, his understanding of the game, he is managing the physicality much better, he is maturing.

‘It’s a lot to ask. When we signed him, the expectation that we had for him in the first year was to start adapting.

‘But he has had to play many more minutes than we expected and the kid is trying his best, and I think he’s doing pretty well.’

On his team’s performance, Arteta added: ‘We started slow, we looked leggy and didn’t have enough rhythm or intention to attack the way we wanted.

‘We started to play better, more rhythm and threat and came out in the second half completely different.

‘We tried in every different way but lacked the quality in the final third. At the end, when we have a really low