'I needed to give myself confidence' - Takehiro Tomiyasu admits he was 'struggling' at Arsenal prior to Japan heroics during international break

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu believes he must be more confident for the Premier League side after impressing for Japan over the last week.

The right-back was a key figure as his side demolished Germany 4-1 in a friendly in Wolfsburg and then made a brief appearance as they beat Turkey 4-2. After a bright start to life at Arsenal, he fell down the pecking order in Mikel Arteta's team, but he feels he is getting his confidence back.

I had to convince myself, or rather, I needed to give myself confidence. In that sense, I felt like I needed to regain my confidence, he told Football Zone. I wondered if it has become a problem. But at Arsenal it’s different, so if you ask me if I can just do that at Arsenal, that’s a different story. At Arsenal, too, I need to do my best to secure a spot in the squad.

He added: I’d like to say that, but I gained a lot of confidence from the way I played in these two international matches. My days at Arsenal are really demanding, so if you ask me if I’m going to regain my confidence completely, I can’t say 100 per cent yes. I really feel like I’m doing well at Arsenal. I just need to be confident when I am there. Of course, there were times when I lost confidence, honestly, I thought about a lot of things.

The 24-year-old has started just one of his three Premier League appearances this season and he was given a red card in that match. He was introduced as a late substitute in his latest fixture for Arsenal - the 3-1 win against Manchester United.

The ex-Bologna star will hope to be involved when the Gunners take on Everton on Sunday, or at least in the Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven on September 20.