Bacary Sagna, during his time with Arsenal, has rarely had any real competition for the right-back slot. However, with the emergence of Carl Jenkinson this season in the fullback position, Sagna is getting ready for some much-needed competition, with the French international saying his young teammate has the potential to be one of the best in the world.
Competition for every single place in the starting XI is paramount to having a successful side, and Sagna believes Jenkinson will bring the best out of him. "Of course," Sagna said. "We always have the same battle and that is to fight for the shirt at Arsenal and bring the team to the top.
"I am very happy for him because he did very well. For me it will push me to give the maximum game by game. I have the opportunity now so I will give the maximum. If he is playing then I will push him to become one of the best right-backs. And that is what he has the potential to be."
Arsenal, after starting brightly this season, particularly on the defensive side, have been poor in the last few games, and it is a trend that Sagna is desperate to stop, starting with the Champions League game against Schalke in Germany Tuesday.
"As a defender, it is never nice to concede goals," Sagna said. "We know we have to improve defensively and offensively as well. That's our target and we are working hard to do it.
"We are professional footballers and we want to finish first. We want to win the maximum amount of games. This is big challenge now to be the best in the group. But as players we always want to be the best. It would mean we play against a team who finish second in their group.
"But at this stage of the competition every team is good. So we have to keep focused on our team, keep going and keep working hard."
Arsenal vice-captain Mikel Arteta echoed Sagna's sentiments, and admitted his side were desperate to bounce back from the disappointing results. "We've got another massive game again," the Spaniard told the club's official website. "We lost against (Schalke) at home, which was a big disappointment and it's going to be a really tough game in Germany.
"We have to bounce back. I think we have to show how much we want to win it and go there and show big attitude. I have no doubt about the attitude that we have in the dressing room, and the desire. I think the attitude was good (against Manchester United). We all kept trying, even with 10 men.
"We had a couple of chances to score and we have to give some credit to the lads. But again, conceding those goals against a big team just kills the games."