'It was very good, we wanted to win for him. We all are sorry for him for his injury, and hope he will have a good recovery and to see him on the pitch because he's an important player for the team and also in the dressing room'
Monday 12 November 2018 13:33, UK
Injured striker Danny Welbeck shared a FaceTime call with Arsenal's players before their 1-1 draw with Wolves on Sunday, Bernd Leno has revealed.
The England forward underwent surgery on Friday after suffering what the club described as a "significant" ankle injury during Thursday's goalless Europa League draw against Sporting Lisbon.
It remains to be seen how long Welbeck will be on the sidelines, but head coach Unai Emery arranged for him to speak to his team-mates in the dressing room as they prepared for the Premier League clash with Wolves.
He could not inspire the Gunners to a win as they toiled to a 1-1 draw, substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan levelling four minutes from full-time after Ivan Cavaleiro's goal looked set to be enough for the visitors.
"We talked to him because of the coach before the game in the meeting, we had a FaceTime session with him," Leno said after the game.
"It was very good, we wanted to win for him. We all are sorry for him for his injury, and hope he will have a good recovery and to see him on the pitch because he's an important player for the team and also in the dressing room.
"He looked very happy and I think he was happy to talk to us because he is still a big part of our team and we will support him to have a good time when he is injured.
"I think that is a big quality of the manager because he always wants to have a team, not just one player, one player, one player [individuals] and I think this meeting was very motivating for us and for every player to play for Danny because everybody likes him."
Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 16 games with a draw which could easily have been a first defeat since August.
Wolves were the better side for much of the contest and only a string of smart saves from Leno kept the hosts in the game.
Substitute Morgan Gibbs-White hit the crossbar in injury time as Nuno Espirito Santo's side almost sealed the win.
In taking a share of the spoils Arsenal have now secured nine points from losing positions this season - more than any other side in the top flight - and Leno believes that shows the players have the right attitude.
"I think the games against Liverpool and Leicester were the same. We played after 1-0 for the other team, we played very good," he added.
"I think this shows a good character of the team that we never give up. After the 1-0 it was dangerous to score as well, but we never gave up and at the end I think had chances to score the second goal.
"I think at the end the balance was lost again, maybe we wanted too much to win this game. I think the character of this team is very good."
