Timber wants to put things right in second leg Interview News

Jurrien Timber is already itching to put the record right against Newcastle United in the second leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final, and is keen to learn from our 2-0 first-leg loss.

The Magpies departed north London with a healthy lead heading into the return fixture, but the Dutch defender thinks that things could be completely different when we meet again on February 5, especially if we learn our lessons from the encounter at Emirates Stadium.

And he has urged his teammates to stay positive between now and then as we attempt to overturn the deficit and create a cup comeback to take us to Wembley in the second leg.

“It’s all to play for in that game, it’s still a semi-final, it’s still not done,” he said. “But at the same time, we have a lot of games coming up, but we have to look back at this game and learn from it, definitely. 

“I don’t like losing the first match, but now that this is the case, I think it’s a good thing that we have a second chance in the second leg.

“I think if you look at the game, we dominated a big part of it but we gave two easy goals away which is not what we usually do. So it’s a tough one to take but at the same time, it’s half-time, we need to keep our heads up.”

Jurrien was one of a number of Gunners who couldn’t quite find the back of the net during the game, with the Newcastle goal living a charmed life at times as we carved out opportunity after opportunity.

He thinks that should we continue to be as creative at St James’ Park, then the outcome could be very different to the disappointment he and his teammates are feeling after tonight’s loss, and they want to out it behind them by booking a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Manchester United’s expense on Sunday.

“I think we need a little bit of luck,” he added. “We created chances and you have to score. On the other hand, if you give two easy goals away it makes it hard because they’re going to drop very low, which makes it even harder but it’s a good challenge for us. We have to learn from today and take it onto the next game.

“It’s never easy to bounce back from a loss at home, so we need our supporters on Sunday. We’re going give everything and I think it’s a beautiful match to bounce back.”