Kieran Tierney has Arsenal sit down with Mikel Arteta as wanted left-back set a challenge

Mikel Arteta has admitted he has sat down with Kieran Tierney to talk about his lack of playing minutes at the English Premier League leaders.

The Arsenal boss said the former Celtic left-back needs to "challenge" himself to get more game time at the Emirates. Tierney is set to miss the North London sides trip to Lisbon this evening to take on Sporting in the Europa League Round of 16 tie. Arteta has favoured Ukrainian full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko this season which has limited Tierney's minutes this season.

The Scotland international is reportedly being monitored by a number of Premier League clubs with Eddie Howe's Newcastle United keen to sign the player if his situation doesn't improve at Arsenal. Scotland manager Steve Clarke will also be looking for the 25-year-old to be get more minutes ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Cyprus and Spain at Hampden later this month. Ahead of the game tonight, Arteta detailed the discussion he had with Tierney.

He told Football London: "(It was) Very good because we talked and we discussed the situation and we had a very similar opinion about that

"He knows his role – under me he’s played a lot, more than any other player probably compared to the previous players at the club in the last three years and he understands the situation and he needs to challenge the situation."

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