Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu admits he is ‘not satisfied’ after losing place to Ben White

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has admitted he is ‘not satisfied’ to be out of the team this season after losing his spot at right-back to Ben White – but he vowed to return and ‘work hard’ to get back in the first team to play football.

Tomiyasu arrived at the Emirates from the Serie A side of Bologna last season and made a good early impression. He started 20 times under Mikel Arteta as the club competed for Champions League football.

However, the 23-year-old was sidelined for part of the season as he suffered a calf injury that kept him out for nine games – and that fitness boost has impacted his preparations for the current season.

The defender has lost his place on the flank this season to Ben White at right-back

After Arsenal failed to secure a place in the top four, the Spanish boss shuffled his deck in this campaign to get his side on track, and has also added a number of new signings, with Tomiyasu in the top seven games fell out of favor from the season.

To Arteta’s credit the changes have worked – Arsenal are currently at the top of the league and White appears to be thriving in his new right-back role – although Tomiyasu admits he can’t hide his frustration as he admitted Premier League standards are unbelievable be high.

“What it takes in this competition is quite high and I am not satisfied.

“When you look at the players who have been selected as starters in the Premier League matches, you understand what it takes to be there. I will work hard to get my position back.”

The Japanese star warned White he will ‘work hard’ to earn a starting spot

Tomiyasu has shown that he is still valued by Arteta after being brought on six times in the Gunners’ first seven games and playing 90 minutes in Arsenal’s 2-1 Europa League win against FC Zurich.

Arteta stressed that Tomiyasu was still in his plans this season and that he was looking for more minutes after his long hiatus.

Speaking after their 2-1 win over Aston Villa last month – in which Tomiyasu won more tackles than anyone off the bench, the head coach said: “We are very happy to be loading some minutes into him and he is responding very well.

“He’s been training for weeks now with no problems and that’s the first period he’s been able to do that in the last six or seven months, and you can see how he played today when he came on board – I think he was really good. ‘