'Auba is aware we need his goals, and he's trying'

Mikel Arteta has hailed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's work-rate as he seeks to come back to his best goalscoring form.

Our captain has not found the back of the net since our victory against Aston Villa on October 22, but the boss retains full belief in him.

"You are always [concerned] when your main striker isn't scoring goals but he is trying his hardest," Arteta said. 

"He is aware of how much we need him as a team to score goals and, at the moment, they are not coming but the rest of the things we are asking him to do, he is trying his best."

Arteta said after the defeat to Manchester United that he wants his senior players to lead the younger members of the squad - so what exactly did he mean by that?

"What I said is that the senior players are the ones who have to lead and the younger players are the ones who have to follow," he said. 

"We need that balance in the performances on the pitch and as well off the field. We are getting that balance right and we have to continue not to rely too much on the rest and this is a team, it's not two teams that are split, and we need that balance and to manage those moments.

"First of all [I will] keep demanding the best from everybody and ask them for things they can do and they can do well, and do well consistently - and that's what I try to do all the time."