Arsenal: Mikel Arteta reveals Myles Lewis-Skelly lesson which helped youngster win back place | OneFootball

Youngster has revitalised Gunners’ double dreams with midfield performances

Myles Lewis-Skelly had key lessons to learn before earning back his place in the Arsenal side, Mikel Arteta has revealed.

It has been more of a struggle this season. Lewis-Skelly has spent much of the campaign on the bench, with his opportunities coming primarily in the cup competitions.

That was until last week when he was given his first Arsenal start in midfield against Fulham. A starring performance was enough for Lewis-Skelly to keep his place in the Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.

The reaction to those two matches was reminiscent of the excitement which surrounded Lewis-Skelly when he broke into the side last season.

Back in the fold: Myles Lewis-Skelly

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"I need to put on a Myles Lewis-Skelly hat to understand how he's feeling," Arteta said.

"He's a boy that was playing with the Under-18s, Under-21s - sometimes he wasn't even playing. He was playing a different position.

"He comes in, he comes through, he plays in a completely different position that he's never played before. He's exceptional. Everybody's talking about him.

"He goes to the national team, he comes back from pre-season, and then he starts to realise that maybe he's not going to be a starter."

Lewis-Skelly has spent much of the season behind Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori in the pecking order.

Pulling the strings: Myles Lewis-Skelly

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His minutes now look set to come in midfield, where he played through the academy ranks, but it has taken time for the teenager to prove to Arteta that he was ready to deal with the challenges that come with not being in the team.

"You need to go through those emotions," Arteta said.

"Not only you, but the people next to you as well, who are giving you advice. You have to navigate through that, and that's not easy. I understand that.

"It's easy when it goes so well for you, but when it goes the other way, the temptation is going to start to point to people.

"I need to understand that and I need to guide him, and I need to give him my perspective, the reasons why he wasn't playing that much.

"And he took it on board. Not the first one - after three or four times. I think he realised, 'okay, I think if it’s not this way, I don't think it's going to happen'."