Mikel Arteta was in a bullish mood in answering the questions that were inevitably going to face him after Arsenal failed to sign anyone in the January transfer window. Tackling questions on his own frustrations, the gamble that it creates and whether he specifically is worried about the lack of numbers in the forward line.

There was of course time for questions about the match too which is perhaps going slightly under the radar in the wake of the market’s closure. The hope will therefore be that the momentum from the weekend can carry the side to victory on Tyneside.

You can read every word from the press conference which football.london was in attendance for here.

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Can we just do a little bit of team news to start? Did everyone come through okay? And could you just give us a little update as well when we might see Ben White back in the squad? And also Saka, range of when he might be available to you please?

No news from the game against City and Ben is still out, hopefully after the break he will be available.

[And Saka?] No, not yet.

I know not yet but you said mid-March maybe?

I don't know.

As you arrived at training ahead of this game, how different is the feeling around the place and how much can you tap into that with what you've got ahead tomorrow night?

Next stop is a final in Wembley so we know how big that is and you can feel it. You can feel it straight away. The boost that the game gave us when against City, the manner that we did it and the fact that it's a game that is the closest competition we are in to a final. So we're going to give it our real go.

As you're very well aware, the window was shut last night and without bringing the reinforcements that you said you'd have hoped or liked to have brought in. Were you close? And the work that you've done over the last few weeks, how much will that help going into the summer of knowing exactly who you want in terms of reinforcements, particularly in that striker position?

We had a clear intention which is always there is a window open to explore the opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it. We haven't achieved it so we are disappointed in that sense but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring certain kind of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well and I think that we will.

Arsenal haven’t beaten Newcastle for the last four or five games, becoming a bit of a bogey team for you. Can you just talk about when you come up against a team you haven't beaten for a while and as a player did you ever have a bogey team?

I didn't know that word. [laughs] They are a very difficult team to play against. They've been different games. We beat them at home last year in a good way.

Obviously this season has been different with two different games as well I think. So yeah, another opportunity ahead of us, a big one that can take us to Wembley so really looking forward to it.

Did you ever have a team as a player you could never beat or you had trouble beating?

Barcelona, never beaten. That was one.

Arsenal haven't won the League Cup - I was amazed by this - Arsenal haven't won the League Cup since 1993. They've only ever won it twice. Does that amaze you that this trophy, Arsenal, have got a great record?

Yes, because with other domestic cups, we have an unbelievable record so historically it's been difficult and tough. So, good opportunity again to make history.

And idiots like me sat here in January telling you you needed a striker, you needed a striker but you scored five against City, you've won your last four games scoring 11 goals in the process. So you must be confident that you can go to Newcastle and score the number of goals you need?

Yeah, there are two separate things. One, obviously I think we talk very openly from my side of the club perspective about the intention to improve the squad. We have the capacity to do it and most importantly to keep improving the team, to keep improving the individuals within the team because it's the ones that we have and we love and that's it.

And for now, there's no discussion about it and we focus in the things that we have continued to do even though the window was open.

The players get nervous in the semi-final. Does the manager get nervous in the semi-final?

I don't know. We're excited for sure. Willing, hungry and enthusiastic because we are very close to playing a final and hopefully, we can achieve it tomorrow.

There's been lots of talk about strikers but obviously when you've got players contributing goals from all over the pitch, that really, really does help. Myles Lewis-Skelly was great at the weekend, not just in his goal, not just in the celebration but overall. Could you just expand a little bit on how his rise has gone down in the dressing room? Because William Saliba told us after the game that he's not surprised anymore by how well he's played.

Well, probably the players are the best to express how they feel about it. In this particular case with Myles, because they are sitting next to each other, they share the pitch which is the most important thing. It's how they feel about these young players when they come in: Do they trust them? Do they feel that they are stronger with them?

And that's the feeling that I get. That's why we've given them the opportunity because for me they are ready in our eyes but in the team's feeling as well, they feel that they can really be better with them.

I guess it's a similar story for Ethan Nwaneri as well. As a manager, do you feel kind of personally responsible for their development and making sure that that pathway is there for them? And then does that come into your thinking when you do go into the transfer market?

Very much, but with every player, regardless of the age. Obviously the age has a different component, especially when they are not even 18 years old. And we have other cases as well in the team when, as parents, I imagine that they rely on us in educating them and in transmitting the right values to them and looking after them, protecting them emotionally especially and physically.

And yeah, it's a lot of responsibility but thankfully we share it with quite a lot of people and I think they are in good hands.

After the first leg, you said it was only half-time and there's been a big gap, it's been a very long half-time since that last game, a lot has happened since then as well, including this huge win at the weekend. Does a win of such size give those players extra confidence that you can turn around the deficit that you have to?

Yeah, probably when you compare the emotional state of the team straight after the defeat and the manner that it happened and how we are today is very different because we come from very strong performances, some great wins and especially the last one at home against Man City.

So it is momentum and after that game as well we have a break so it's the moment to go full gas, ready to go for it and try to approach it in the way that we believe is the best one to win that final.

And after the game against City, I asked you whether you hoped Monday would be a good day. Obviously, it maybe didn't go the way that we and you and fans perhaps wanted. Have you been in any way frustrated that it wasn't able to go and bring in the reinforcements that you were very vocal about, this window of wanting?

No, because when you try your best and you do things with the right process and you see the people that we all share the same intentions and wills and after you don't achieve it, for sure there are things to learn from it, there always are, but you have to move on and that's a piece that was important in the moment and now we have to move on and nobody knows whether it is better to have done it or not. We'll know probably at the end of the season.

You talk about being disciplined now in terms of the window. Does that give you hope that in the summer you've got more room to get who you really want to do by not doing anything and waiting for who you really want?

An extra card! I don't know, what I mean about that is in everything, in the kind of profile, in the kind of play that we believe that can really make us much better financially. In a lot of ways, a lot of things that we must stay in the lane that has taken us this far and from there try to improve.

You touched on it before, you spoke a bit about Ethan long-term, you said maybe playing as a No.9. I just wonder, given the situation now in terms of options there, are you now kind of accelerating that and thinking maybe in these four or five months you might have to play him as a striker? Is that something you're considering?

We're going to have to be very flexible in the front line and now the ones that we have and are fit, make sure that they stay fit and they keep contributing. Leo can play in that position. Raheem has played in that position. Ethan, I think, can play in that position. Martinelli can play there. Let's see in relation to how everybody is, moment, opponent, but at some point, I think we're going to have to try something different.

You touched on the break that's coming up after the Newcastle game. I was just going to ask, is the Dubai trip something that's coming up? Can you confirm that?

I think it's coming, yes.

Obviously, last year wasn't the first time you went there. You went a few years before as well. I was wondering, do you keep it similar every time you go or do you change up how you do all the non-football stuff to keep people fresh?

There are a lot of things that will be very similar. Location, where we are staying, where we train, but then obviously we have to modify it. We're going to be in a different moment of the season, different numbers, probably the team needs other similar, other things, so we are preparing a few things. Hopefully, it will work like it has worked in the last few times.

Just on Ethan, he's getting close to a record that was set by Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney for goals scored before turning 18. I was just wondering, with records, are those things you kind of encourage your players about? Because I remember you talking about Saka and legacy was a word you mentioned in relation to him. Would that be something you kind of encourage going for records and stuff like that?

No, I wasn't aware of that record. The only thing that I want with him is that he continues to do what he's doing and play with that freedom, with that tenacity when he's on the pitch and with that confidence because he's got the ability to make it happen and whether he does that or not, it will be a matter of time.

I know you've been asked a lot about the market already, but can you just break it down for us? Was it the case that the right player simply wasn't available?

I wouldn't like to go into much detail. We couldn't do it for certain reasons and we have to accept it, that's it.

Can you give me one of those reasons? What were those reasons? Was it money? Was it not the right fit?

It was a combination of things.

You've done so much in your five years here to change the culture in the dressing room and it's so positive here now. Is part of it that you don't want to gamble on maybe a character you're not sure of? Was part of that thinking that you want to make sure you wait for the right person?

No, that wasn't part of the process. That wasn't an issue with any player that we were trying to find.

I was watching an interview that you gave with Sky last week where you talked about the size of the squad being very short last summer. You said you had 19 outfield players, three of them were coming back from serious injury and you kind of knew there was a bit of a risk. Given that, how much of a gamble is it, do you feel, not to add numbers in this window?

It's not a gamble, it's reality. I think we have to face the reality as well that we have. We have the players that we have, some of them are on loan. We've never had a squad of 35, 40, 45 players. So many other clubs, they have 45 players in their list. We don't have that size at the moment. It's our reality. We have to do so much in the last few years that's where we are.

So we're going to have to evolve there as well and have more and have more players from the academy and the ones that are here to be fitted longer. That's a job that is permanent and it keeps evolving and we need to be on our toes.

Are you slightly worried that you don't have enough numbers to compete for the Premier League and to compete in Europe?

No, now I focus on the numbers that we have, how to maximise them, how to make the best out of them and listen with all the problems that we already had in February. I think it's remarkable what the team has done so I have full faith in them.

Kai has had his critics but now that you know that he's the main man going into the second half of the season, do you think you'll thrive on that, that he's your solo forward?

Well, I think Kai has played so many games and it's been so important when other players, some big players as well, were available. It's not because a player is not coming and his position is going to be more important. From my opinion, there's nothing to do with that.