Emery confirms Xhaka return as he makes plea to Arsenal supporters

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has confirmed that Granit Xhaka could return to the fold for his side’s Premier League clash with Southampton on Saturday.

The midfielder has not featured since late October against Crystal Palace, when he gestured angrily in response to jeers aimed at him following his substitution.

Xhaka was subsequently dropped and stripped of the captaincy while also receiving counselling from support staff, with Emery revealing in a press conference on Thursday that the Switzerland international is “feeling better”.

“He’s feeling better and also he’s feeling his team is Arsenal now and he wants to regain the confidence of our supporters,” the manager said. “Little by little, we can help him to come back and connect again with us and our supporters.

“We are going to decide tomorrow [if he’ll play] but I want to do that comeback giving him confidence, making him comfortable, and [at a time] when we can connect with our supporters in a good moment, a good performance and also being strong with them.”

Speaking about Saturday’s clash at the Emirates, Emery called on Arsenal’s supporters to have a helping hand in improving the club’s recent form.

“For me and for the players, we are going to start again, achieving our objective, thinking how we can reduce little by little the distance with the top four,” the Spaniard said.

“Above all we need to connect with our supporters by playing better, being in control of the game for 90 minutes with our personality and characteristics, and we haven’t done this at the Emirates. Hopefully Saturday we can change that.”

Arsenal sit seventh in the Premier League table heading into the weekend’s action, eight points off the top four.

Read more: Emery baffled as to how Mourinho is going to improve Tottenham

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