Mikel Arteta faced the media following a routine win in the UEFA Champions League over Dinamo Zagreb that all but confirmed their progression through to the last-16. Three goals on the night from Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard gave the Gunners the win they needed.

The Arsenal boss provided updates on the injury of Myles Lewis-Skelly, the hope for some future rest and on the performance. There was a particularly enjoyable exchange or two revolving around mathematics and statistics.

Here is every word from the press conference as Arteta faced the media...

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Another Champions League win, another clean sheet, how pleased are you?

Yeah, very happy overall. Obviously this is a massive step what we done tonight has put us in a really strong position. Before we play the last game in Girona, scoring three goals, plenty of chances dominated the game and don't concede shots, and don’t concede at home, so overall very happy.

Have you been told whether you’re through?

I haven't had as much time as you probably so struggling with that. I know that we are in a really, really good position. A lot of things have to happen. So still, you know, we have to do our job, go to Girona, try to win the game, and then we'll have much sense.

I know you’re not a mathematician…

You don’t know that.

You need to be. Opta say Arsenal are 100% sure to make it through. So can you now go away to a warm weather training camp and speak to the travel agent?

We’re going to ask Opta to speak to them!

Couldn’t have gone much better tonight?

No, it’s really good and as well we made certain changes for freshness to give certain players minutes and they fully deserved them as well. We had some setbacks yesterday as well with the players that we could use tonight, three of them a bit of trouble, they were on the bench but not really ready to be used as well, so good that we won it and enjoy it, and then let's go to Wolves.

Is Declan approaching his best form again?

His intent, his purpose, especially in attacking the position he's taking, how he's driving with the ball. There's another bite to his game, and today he could have scored two goals. In the last few weeks, he had some big, big open chances to score, to affect the game. So overall, very happy, because we need to affect the game from those positions and he certainly has a role in doing that.

Has his dip in form been due to the Euros and the niggle he suffered?

Yeah, that one. Then he had another niggle, and then the demands of the game, he's faced so much football in the last three years. And as well, on top of that, we have moved him from one position to the other. So all the factors, but the good thing with Dec is he so conscious, so reliable, is always there. And yeah, when you can create those sparks, those moments in the opposition box, obviously, it's a great thing.

Rested Rice quite a bit at the turn of the year, what was behind that?

Yeah, he needs, he needs that like the others, you know, and sometimes related to freshen up, and sometimes related to say, we need another level. And if not, somebody is going to be there, so everybody has to be on their toes. And Dec is not different to that. And you can see that when he's fresher and he's in a condition like he is a big player for us.

Goals from midfield seem to be so big for Arsenal, how important will they be in the second half of the season?

We know that, and we know in the last two seasons when we scored that many goals, how we share those goals, you could tell just by the reaction of Martin, how much he meant that goal to him. So hopefully, now we go, and that's going to happen very often.

Can we just check what’s the latest on Myles Lewis-Skelly?

I am not sure [if Lewis-Skelly will be fit to face Wolves on Saturday]. He jarred his knee in the game against Villa and he thought it was okay when he finished the game. The next day it wasn’t bad and then yesterday he wasn’t feeling right, and so he started the session and he wasn’t feeling good.

So, we need some more tests tomorrow. Hopefully, it is nothing big, but the games are coming very fast.

Does he need a scan?

Yeah, we need to [do that].

More maths, Havertz has scored 14 goals 22 games faster than he did last season…

Sorry, what’s the stat? (smiles)

Reached 14 goals, 22 games faster than last season.

Ah, that the season before?

Yeah. What does that tell us about him?

What do you think about it?

I think it shows his improvement.

It shows the perspective against the reality sometimes, that’s what it shows. Good stat.

Nwaneri back from injury how positive is it he’s been able to bounce back?

Yeah, for sure. Great. Great to have. He has been training really good the last few days he’s adapting to the position and you can tell straight away the threat that he generates, how he convinced people that kind of ball they can put from these areas as well. So really happy, really good to have impact. We need options. We need threat. We need competition there.

If you get through, how important could it be to have time away and refresh?

Yeah, if we and the right to do that, that will be great, because obviously it's been a super busy schedule with a lot of demands and with things that happen, even more demands, especially on the players. So we can achieve that would be great.

Thoughts on Dinamo Zagreb? Maybe expected them to be more dangerous?

No, we didn't know. Obviously, till yesterday, we didn't really know we prepared a game, especially with two different formations, because it's what the manager has done in the past.

But it's true that they were more focused on 4-3-3, when we watched certain games lately. But they were friendlies, so expecting them to come here, I was more inclined that they were gonna come with a back five. And then they tried to generate some issues as well for us, because they moved quite a lot the structure. They did some clever things. And yeah, it’s good we won the game.

Did you speak to Fabio after the game, give us something juicy?

I just say, I just say hello to him and wish him the best. He’s someone that I admire a lot as a player, not only as a player in the career, but the presence that he has, and the way he behaves and you can see that on the touchline, And I like what he did, some very clever things to cause us problems