Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has explained the decision to start Kieran Tierney against Villarreal.

The Scotsman was not due to play in the Europa League semi final second leg, which Arsenal drew 0-0 to crash out of the competition.

But he replaced the injured Granit Xhaka in the line up, and Arteta says it was because fellow full-back Cedric Soares was in the hospital with a stomach bug.

"We had Cedric in hospital 24 hours ago and when Granit got injured that was the only alternative we had," Arteta said in his post-match press conference.

Asked if Cedric was now okay, Arteta added: "Yeah, he's fine now."