Arteta happy to lead from front

Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta was overjoyed to have captained the Gunners in their FA Cup third round 1-0 win against Leeds on Monday.

The Spaniard wore the captains’ armband in the absence of Robin van Persie and Thomas Vermaelen, and is happy to have clinched a home clash with English Premier League rivals Aston Villa in the next round.

“It was really pleasing for me to be captain for a club like Arsenal, it’s unbelievable,” Arteta told Arsenal Player. “I just want to thank my team-mates for the effort, my manager for the support and hopefully we can build on this and win against Swansea (in the Premier League on Sunday).”

“We had many chances to finish it off much earlier but it seems to be like it a lot this year at the Emirates. At least we won, we are through and it was a good result after the disappointment of the Fulham game.”

“It is (frustrating) because if you score two goals in the first half it makes it much easier. It becomes harder to control a game (when it remains 0-0), everybody is getting a bit anxious to score and it makes it harder.”

“But we were really patient and in the end made the right decision to win the game.”

Arteta’s compatriot Ignasi Miquel played the full 90 minutes against the Championship outfit and spoke of the importance of a clean sheet.

“We knew that if we kept a clean sheet we would probably win the game, because we are a good team and we know we are going to create chances and score goals,” he said.

“We did well. Everybody knew that Leeds would come here and it would be a tough game for us. But I think we dominated the game from the beginning to the end and we deserved the result.”

The north London club have also announced the departure of 19-year-old Luke Freeman to League One side Stevenage for an undisclosed fee.

Freeman netted eight goals in 31 appearances for the Gunners reserve side and has made his switch to Stevenage permanent, after initially joining the club on loan in November.