Arsenal star Tierney: There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Tierney and De Bruyne vying for the ball [Getty]

Scotland international Kieran Tierney believes Mikel Arteta can bring the glory days back to Arsenal after they fell into the second half of the Premier League table.

Since the 2019-20 campaign restarted earlier this month following the COVID-19 shutdown, the Gunners have suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Manchester City (3-0) and Brighton and Hove Albion (2-1).

The result puts the North London club 11 points behind fourth-placed Chelsea who host Manchester City on Thursday evening.

Speaking ahead of their clash against Southampton today, Tierney hailed Arteta’s impact on the training pitch, saying “as a team we need to keep the confidence, stick together and kick on again."

"Every day in training you know you're going there to work," Tierney told Sky Sports.

"There are times for a laugh and a joke - Mikel loves that as well - but when we're working, we're working. It's a lot of tactical stuff as well, and that's going to help us all get an understanding of how he wants us to play.

"I've said before, something like that is not going to just work straight away, it's going to be a process, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and we need to stay focused on that.

"There are going to be bad results and bad games, but as a team we need to keep the confidence, stick together and kick on again."

Tierney also said the Arsenal players are eager to return to winning ways having suffered successive defeats for the first time this term.

"All the players are hurting, it's a tough time for everyone at the club, but there are going to be better days ahead," the Scot added.

"The last two results haven't been ideal, but the work-rate is still at 100 per cent every day in training.

"We're working so hard and we're working to the game plan that the manager wants. We all believe in it and we're all buying into it."

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