Arsenal defender Ignasi Miquel confessed he never expected to feature for the first team this season as for him things have gone very quickly this year.

Speaking to Arsenal Magazine, the 18-year old was surprised with how quickly he went from training with the Under 18s to join the senior squad after returning to London from Christmas holidays as he added that there is of course additional pressure when you train and play with the first team.

Twice a regular against Leyton Orient in the F.A. Cup, the Catalan concluded by saying that a professional footballer should learn to deal with pressure as it will always be there and needs to be tackled accordingly as part of the job.

On his season, the youngster said:

Things have gone so quickly. I didn’t expect to play with the first team this year. Coming back from Spain after Christmas, I didn’t anticipate anything like this.

For a week-and-a-half I was training with the Under-18s and then, suddenly, I was training with the first team. There is an added pressure of joining the first team, of course, but it’s part of our job and you have to get used to it.

Once you develop your game, pressure comes naturally. You have to deal with it. You know the pressure is there and you have to get through it.