THEY might have needed a couple of “wake-up calls”, but Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal are “in a good place” going into the second international break of the season.

Despite a run of difficult fixtures, dismissals and injury issues, so far the Gunners remain unbeaten both domestically and in Europe.

It certainly hasn’t been easy: summer signing Mikel Merino and captain Martin Odegaard have both spent spells on the sidelines, while Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard have both been brandished red cards.

But that’s all part and parcel of being a football manager. “It’s been a very demanding period after the [first] international break,” said Arteta. “We had so many issues; a lot of injuries, very difficult fixtures, especially away from home, and some of them playing with 10-men, and the team adapts.

“The team is so willing. I’m very pleased with the way we’ve come through this period, we’re in a good place.”

Fantasy football managers have been finding it equally as tough. Investing in Arsenal defenders ahead of home games against relegation contenders Leicester City and Southampton looked destined to deliver big point hauls, but the Gunners failed to keep a clean sheet in either game as they were made to work harder than expected in securing back-to-back Premier League wins.

“The wake-up call was that we conceded a goal,” said Arteta. “But the way we started the games and dominated the opposition, I think against Leicester we beat every record that was set before and [the stats against Southampton] will be something similar.

“But you need to score three, four or five, and if you don’t, this is the Premier League: it’s game on. But if we have a wake-up call, it’s the goal they [Southampton] scored and we had to react to that. We did it, and we did it in a convincing way.”

Bukayo Saka grabbed a goal and two assists as Arsenal came from behind to beat the Saints 3-1 on Saturday. It was a man-of-the-match performance that will only make it harder for Arteta as he continues to wrestle with the need to eventually give his wide-man a well-earned rest.

Quizzed on whether he was tempted to bench Saka, the Gunners boss said: “Yes, and we have taken him off a few times this season. We have to manage the load on him, but at the moment, he’s in a good place.”

Another player in a good place is Kai Havertz, who has now scored in seven games in a row at the Emirates. Praising the German goal-getter, Arteta said: “When he’s practising, he wants more, and he’s not satisfied with what he’s doing because there is still, I think, another level from him.

“Obviously, he’s surrounded by incredible players but something has changed in him and that confidence, you really sense it, and now he’s putting it into games and he’s winning football matches which is great.”