Arsenal youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles hopes manager Unai Emery keeps selecting his team on merit.

Maitland-Niles knows his place will be under threat once fullback Hector Bellerin returns to full fitness.

He said, "I want to stay in the team, but if the manager chooses him over me, that's something I have to live with. I just have to keep training and working so hard that I can be selected instead.

"I'm usually a midfielder - either centrally or on the wing - that's just the same for me. I'm not a defender, so I hear a lot about bad defending, but it's something I've been learning for a few years now.

"It won't come overnight. I would have understood the criticism if I had been a defender as a kid and my defending was poor, but I do my best for the team and the manager."