Mikel Arteta insists Emile Smith Rowe remains part of his plans at Arsenal and has backed the midfielder to use his injury hell as fuel.

Smith Rowe burst onto the scene under Arteta in 2020 and signed a five-year contract with Arsenal a year later, taking the No10 shirt.

Since then, however, the 23-year-old has been hit by injuries and, even when fit, he has struggled for minutes.

Smith Rowe was handed only his fourth start of the season on Wednesday and impressed during a 2-0 win over Luton.

And asked if he still has a part to play in his project at Arsenal, Arteta said: “Yeah.

“I just look at him and what happened in the last seasons especially, but what happened three seasons [ago] as well.

“Take all that. It is the best thing that could have happened for him in his career - if he uses it the right way now. So, don’t look back and say: ‘Ah, if, if’.

“No, this happened, use it. ‘That was the best thing that could have happened, I had great moments, I had difficult moments, now I know what I want, how to deal with that. That is going to make me a much better player’.

“And, you could see, the hell of a player that we have in him when he is fit and he is playing at that level.”

Arsenal are next in action on Saturday when they travel to Brighton and a win will take them top of the Premier League table, although that could only be for 24 hours as current leaders Liverpool travel to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.