Lewis Skelly is looking forward to the challenges ahead after being selected for the England national team for the first time

The 18-year-old Arsenal midfielder Lewis Skelly was selected for the England national team earlier, and was also called up to the senior team for the first time. Lewis Skelly said that he was looking forward to the challenges in the future.

With Odegaard assisting Merino to score, Arsenal defeated Chelsea 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the focus match of the 29th round of the 2024/25 Premier League.

Lewis Skelly, who played the full 90 minutes in the London derby, said, "This is really all I could ask for. I am very grateful to the team and the coach for their trust in me. I will do my best to repay them and be the best I can be."

The "Three Lions" of England will face Albania at Wembley Stadium in the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers group stage, which will also be England's first game in 2025.

When talking about the feeling of being selected for the England national team for the first time, Lewis Skelly shared, "It was really exciting. To be honest, I was so happy that I screamed at home. I am looking forward to the next challenge, but I must always focus on the present and not indulge in the vision of the future."

As for Arsenal's performance against Chelsea, Lewis Skelly said, "This is a hard-earned victory. During the game, we faced the opponent's deep defense, but as a team, we can bear it together. Sometimes you have to learn to 'endure', and we did a good job in this game."

Arteta confident Arsenal will reap rewards

"From the beginning of the game, we knew we had to win every confrontation and every fight. This is a basic requirement, especially in a derby like this."

After achieving 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in the last 5 rounds, Arsenal is currently ranked second in the standings with 58 points, 12 points behind first-placed Liverpool.

Arsenal manager Arteta said, "I am satisfied with the results and the team's various performances. I like the attitude the team showed from the beginning of the game, including the way of playing, the aggressiveness of the attack and the ability to score goals quickly. We created a lot of opportunities, but unfortunately we failed to seize them. However, we still did a good job in defense, and we were also able to use the space left by the opponent to launch an attack, but we failed to seize the opportunities in many favorable situations."

"Apart from a weird save from David Raya, we conceded very few chances. That's a credit to the team as a whole because, in my opinion, Chelsea is the strongest attacking team in the Premier League this season."

Arteta continued, "We have proved that the team can maintain a high level of stable competitiveness against any opponent. If we can continue to maintain this performance, we will definitely be rewarded."