Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has doubled down on his battle against Ben White for a starting spot in defence under Mikel Arteta.
The Japanese defender has been playing catch up so far this season after missing most of pre-season through injury. The return of William Saliba eased Arteta's fears in defence with White able to deputise at right-back, but Tomiyasu has faced an uphill battle since recovering from injury in reclaiming his starting spot in the team due to the English defender's form.
The 23-year-old defender signed from Bologna in a £16million deal last summer but missed large periods of last term through injury. Tomiyasu has previously admitted he is 'not satisfied' with playing a rotation role in Arteta's squad and his recent performances have shown he still has plenty to offer for Arteta and the Gunners.
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The Japan international has the ability to play anywhere across the defence, but the performances of Saliba, Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko and White have meant opportunities in the first team have been limited so far this season. Zinchenko was left out of the win against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday but this was only a precautionary measure, football.london understands.
In the past Tomiyasu has revealed his frustrations with not being played as regularly as he would like and promised to 'work harder' to earn his place in the starting lineup once again. The Arsenal star has since doubled down on his vow to improve and reclaim his right-back spot following the 3-0 win against Bodo/Glimt.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Tomiyasu said: “For me it doesn’t matter which competition I play. Even if it is Europa League or a cup game, I want to help the team on the pitch.
“But if you want to get back your position you have to be much, much better. Today was not my top, top performance so I am not satisfied with my performance. If you are playing in a big club, like Arsenal, there is always competition with the other players."
Tomiyasu admitted he is trying to learn from his teammate in an effort to displace White from the starting team and force his way back into Arteta's plans. The Japanese defender continued: "Competition makes me a lot better.
"To be fair, he (White) is doing very well, he is doing fantastic. I need to learn from him a lot of things during the training sessions as well. It was really good to get three points and a clean sheet as well,” said Tomiyasu.
“For me, it was not an easy game. After Eddie’s goal and Rob’s goal, the game was a bit scrappy. We couldn’t control the game for 90 minutes, so for me it was not enough. I am not happy with my performance.”
Looking ahead to the huge clash against Liverpool this weekend, Tomiyasu thinks that despite the Reds poor form of late, it will still be a difficult game at the Emirates Stadium. The 23-year-old added: “Liverpool is still Liverpool.
"Of course, it will not be an easy game. As I said everyone needs to be helping the team. But we are better than last season and we are confident to beat them. We have no fear. We are playing at home with 60,000 people behind us. We need to try and get three points.
“To be fair, the atmosphere of the dressing room is very good. We are confident and we are top of the League. We are ready to beat them. We have got a lot of games in October until the World Cup, so every player has to be ready to play, to help the team.”
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