Thomas Partey must earn his minutes, says Mikel Arteta

The Ghana international made his first appearance for the Gunners since October, with 25 minutes in the 6-0 thrashing of Sheffield United on Monday.

Partey had been sidelined with a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Africa Cup of Nations, but he looked backed to full fitness in the one-sided clash at Bramall Lane.

Arsenal are next in action against Brentford at the weekend.

Arteta said on the Metro: "Today obviously Thomas is available now to play a certain number of minutes. He needs to build that, because it was his first minutes after four months which is a long time. 

"And then, like everybody, you need to have the right to earn the minutes."

Arteta added: "He's very close, he's already doing something on the grass and hopefully we're going to have him very close with us."

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