The Gunners defender is determined to ensure the club secures a return to Europe’s elite competition next season
Arsenal full-back Kieran Tierney said the club deserve to be in the Premier League’s top four and Champions League following their Community Shield victory over Liverpool.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the winning penalty as FA Cup holders Arsenal edged Premier League champions Liverpool 5-4 in a shoot-out to claim the Community Shield at Wembley on Saturday.
Takumi Minamino’s first Liverpool goal cancelled out Aubameyang’s 12th-minute opener in London, where Arsenal’s transformation continued under head coach Mikel Arteta in the new season’s curtain-raiser.
Arsenal only managed to finish eighth last season, consigned to Europa League football for a fourth consecutive campaign but Tierney insisted confidence is on the rise at Emirates Stadium.
“The spirit is one of the main things in the changing room, belief and spirit and we’ve got that, we’re building on it,” he said. “We’re just looking to continue and keep building this way.
“Think that comes from the manager and the staff. It’s continued from what we’ve done last season and building on it. When we came back in last week we’ve just continued. We’ve never had too long off so last season doesn’t feel too long ago.
“Coming into games like this we’re starting to believe more and more and I think that’s what it’s all about, belief and spirit. Mikel’s drilled that into us since day one, defensive organisation and the transition. That’s what we do every day in training, we watch videos on it. It’s not by luck and it’s not by chance. It’s by hard work.
“The fans and the club deserve to be in the Champions League. They deserve to be top four and we want to do as well as we can, as best as we can and put up a fight in every single came we come up against this year.”
Arsenal are set to open their 2020-21 Premier League season at newly promoted Fulham on September 11 with star striker Aubameyang nearing a new deal at the Emirates.
“We are close,” Arteta told BT Sport about negotiations with Aubameyang after their Community Shield triumph.
“Big games, big moments, big players. He has responded really well to that kind of pressure. He was magnificent in the FA Cup final and the same today.”
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