Arsenal boss points to 'exceptional' defender ready for 'next step' as he quashes Man City claims

Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall says Lotte Wubben-Moy is ready for the 'next step' in her career as he praised the defender's form ahead of the weekend clash with Leicester City

The Lionesses defender has been in impressive form for the Gunners and scored her first goal of the season in last night's 3-1 Continental Cup win over Bristol City.

"For Lotte, it is about bringing both her leadership qualities and also footballing qualities on the pitch and working on that holistically," explained the Swedish head coach.

"As a person she thrives off responsibly and leading, she is an exceptional person but also a leader. That's really important for us in order to have performances at a high level that a player like Lotte keeps performing well.

"I think she is coming to an age and with an experience where she is definitely ready to take her next step in her career. That's what I think the start of this season has showed us that she has the potential to do that" added Eidevall.

Arsenal enter the weekend game in fifth place just three points ahead of the Foxes, though they are level on points with second placed Manchester City alongside Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

However, the Swede admitted he isn't paying too much attention to the league table right now as he called for patience in the early stages of their Women's Super League campaign.

"It's early in the season. People have played very uneven - home and away, different opposition and so on - so let's play more and let the league table settle a little bit more before we start jumping to early conclusions. The data set is too small" said the head coach.

Eidevall was also quizzed once again on his thoughts surrounding Gareth Taylor's comments that he had "bullied" the fourth official in last week's 2-1 win over Manchester City but refused to reiterated his focus is now on the game against Leicester.

"It take doesn't a lot of my thought process at the moment. I think you have a huge responsibility as a manager with how you act and what you say.

"I've said what I want on that subject and now I am focused on the Leicester game" he said.

The North London outfit will travel to the Midlands to take on Leicester City this Sunday, with kick off scheduled for 6.45pm.