Noni Madueke hailed the “absurd’ strength of Arsenal’s squad after he came off the bench to grab the winner at Nottingham Forest this afternoon.

Madueke started among the substitutes but his introduction at half-time for the ineffective Eberechi Eze brought some pep to the Gunners attack and it was no surprise that he conjured up the only goal of a largely dismal affair.

The former Chelsea man cut in from the left with 10 minutes to go and fired in a shot that took a deflection off the unfortunate Jair Cunha and flew past Matz Sels. It was Arsenal’s only shot on target.

Forest twice came close to an equaliser in injury time through Murillo and Liam Delap but Arsenal held on to move back up to second, three points behind leaders Manchester City.

Madueke told BBC MOTD: “If you look at the quality of our starting XI and bench it’s absurd so we know that we’re going to start some and finish some and for me it’s the same mentality every time. I just want to create or score.

“It’s an amazing feeling [to score] but I feel better about the win. We have elite players, all 20-something players are elite and of the highest level. Great to have that type of competition. You know on the bench you’re ready to have an impact.

“I had beaten him [his marker] on the outside a couple of times. I thought come inside and leather it.”

Forest made life difficult for Arsenal – Madueke

Forest slipped into the relegation zone this weekend but Madueke was relieved to have come away with three points after two successive goalless draws at the City Ground.

He added: ”They make it so difficult for you. It was a tough game. We’re really happy all together. We showed grit and determination and showed a champion spirit. At times, maybe last year, this game might not have gone for us in the end. We have the extra belief and mentality.”

Arteta was equally pleased his players stuck to their task despite being largely under-par.

“We had to earn it until the last second,” he said. “They are a well-coached team and hard to break down. We had to take risks, they are a dangerous team. We had to manage the emotional part really well. We stayed focused and the finishers made a huge impact.

“Sometimes you can get frustrated with teams who are difficult to break down. First half we didn’t have a shot on target and that’s something we discussed. We had another two big ones in the second half but the only one on target we had was a little deflection and it’s in.”

It was the third win in eight days for Arsenal after beating Leeds and Lille.

“Some of them played three days ago and some of them will start the next game and they know that everyone has to be at it,” said Arteta when asked about the players at his disposal. “If you are needed after 60 minutes, 45 minutes and sometimes two minutes – we have a squad now that can deliver in moments and we have to use that.

“Noni [Madueke], Jurrien [Timber], Mikel [Merino] were brilliant when they came on and Viktor [Gyokeres] really changed the game – all of them did and that’s what we need. Noni obviously the highlight because he scored the goal and that’s the difference.”

Murillo backs Glasner to turn it round despite Arsenal setback

Despite sitting 18th in the table, Murillo was confident the situation will improve for Forest under Oliver Glasner.

He said: “We have a good manager and I think we are still getting his ideas. We changed everything in our system this season. It is difficult but after three or four months we keep improving and I think we are close to reaching our best.

“We have a very good team, experienced players as well. Now we keep going because we know how tough the Premier League is.”