Lucas Perez vows to convince Arsene Wenger to give him Arsenal chance after Sutton goal

Lucas Perez has vowed to convince his manager Arsene Wenger he deserves more chances at Arsenal.

The Spanish striker scored his seventh goal in 18 appearances in Monday’s 2-0 FA Cup fifth round win at non-League Sutton United and has rarely disappointed since joining Arsenal from Deportivo La Coruna for £17million in August.

However he has struggled for opportunities to prove himself in Arsenal’s first team, completing just 249 minutes of Premier League football.

Though he has been largely confined to cup competitions his output has been exceptional, eight goals and six assists in 640 minutes, including a crucial hat-trick in Arsenal’s Champions League win in Basel.

His agent was moved to deny quotes attributed to him that claimed Lucas would be leaving in the summer but the 28-year-old admitted he had hoped for more chances.

“Arsenal are a big team and the competition for places is big. Everyone wants to play and it’s normal,” Lucas told Cadena Cope.

“Today I am happy because I played and scored a goal … and now I need to continue like this to convince the boss to trust more on me.

“Obviously everyone expects to play more. After I scored the hat-trick the boss did not count much with me. But that also means that teammates are very good.

“The team have not had a bad streak of losing three or four matches in a row… The competition is big and you have to wait for your moment to make the most of the opportunity when it arrives.”

Wenger admitted after the Sutton win that Lucas had once more made his case for further first-team opportunities, saying that the Spanish striker was “pushing on the door”, adding that the competition for places with Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez remainded tough.