Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has addressed his red card against Crystal Palace and despite being without the side for the next three games, he believes the Gunners can kick on without him.
The Gabon striker will miss matches against Sheffield United, Chelsea and Bournemouth. Having scored 48% of Arsenal's Premier League goals this season, Aubameyang could be a huge miss in these games.
Either Gabriel Martinelli or Reiss Nelson will replace him on the left and whoever does will next to step up massively. The Gunners have been without Aubameyang once under Arteta already - in the 1-0 win over Leeds - which could give encouragement going into the next three games.
"I hate having to watch and not being able to lead the side out, but I have got all the confidence this team can get results without me," the club captain said.
"As we showed last weekend, we are very dangerous up front and we have quality players to come in, we have got plenty of goals in the team still."
Along with scoring 14 of the Gunners 29 Premier League goals this season, Aubameyang has started every game in the this season and has only been substituted once.
Since joining Arsenal in January 2018, he has also played the most amount of minutes in the league with Granit Xhaka second of that list by over 12 hours.
Seeing the Gunners line up without the striker will be a strange sight but he has also explained what led to his sending off at Selhurst Park.
"The first thing to say is that of course I really didn't mean to hurt Max Meyer with that challenge," the club captain added.
"I hope he gets well soon and I feel bad about it. It was a mistimed challenge. I feel really bad towards my teammates and the club and also of course to Max. Hopefully he will be back playing soon.
"My intention was to get the ball and I got it wrong. I'm sorry. At that stage of the game we were really going for the win and as you have seen in our games recently, we are working hard when we haven't got the ball to win it back as soon as possible, but this time I challenged too hard.
"It's only the second time I have ever been sent off, the other was when I was at Borussia Dortmund in a crazy game against Schalke that ended 4-4."
Focus now switches to Sheffield United, however, and as the Blades sit four points ahead of the Gunners in sixth place, this could be a crucial encounter. Trying to climb back into the European qualification places, anything but a win will halt all the momentum built early in Arteta's reign.
With a trip to fourth placed Chelsea on January 21, Aubameyang recognises the height of the task Arsenal currently face and how vital it is they take three points this afternoon.
"We will need to be at our best today to beat Sheffield United. Just one look at the league table tells you how well they have done this season. I've watched a few of their games, and they always look so strong, organised and they play like a real team." Aubameyang said.
"It was a really tough game against them earlier in the season when they beat us 1-0. Their defence is difficult to break down, but they also attack well as a unit.
"But here at the Emirates we are feeling strong again, winning our last two matches, and we have a big opportunity to make up points this afternoon.
