Mikel Arteta hailed Mikel Merino – a midfielder turned striker – as ‘the best’ example of the versatility that exists within Arsenal’s ranks this season [Jay Patel/SPP]

MIKEL Arteta has urged football’s bigwigs to think about the welfare of the players and start tackling congested fixture lists.

The Arsenal boss insists that squads need more time to recover between matches, adding that “players are not machines”.

The Gunners will be looking to extend their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League tomorrow (Saturday) when they travel to the West Midlands to take on Aston Villa in a lunchtime kick-off.

The tough away day comes in the midst of another busy period, with some clubs playing every three days.

Asked what can be done about the hectic fixture schedule, Arteta said: “It’s probably not one thing, but we can help the players and everybody in the league, and everybody to do what we have to do: give it another day. Especially the teams that are playing so much in Europe.

“To everybody in general, I think we can do that because we’re going to benefit from that. We’ve never had such a schedule at every level – not only in the Premier League, but every competition internationally as well. So we need to try to do that [give clubs an extra day to recover], please. I think it’s common sense. I think at some point this becomes too much, and the players are not machines.”

One approach that Arsenal’s injury-hit squad has benefited from is having players who are willing to play in different positions. Arteta hailed Mikel Merino as “the best” example of the versatility that exists within his ranks: a midfielder turned striker tasked with leading the line in the absence of Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

Merino scored the opener in Wednesday night’s 2-0 victory over Brentford at the Emirates, and afterward Arteta said his new-found goal-getter has upped his game yet again.

He said: “The way he scored, super smart. His timing, the way he wins the position and execution. But his overall performance, with the ball, without the ball. I remember an action when he passed the ball to Martin [Odegaard] from behind. Martin doesn’t chase it, Mikel makes 40 metres to chase it to the corner flag and wins the ball back. He is everywhere.

“It’s curiosity and his willingness to learn and his willingness to help the team. He knew that we had a major problem from the beginning of the season. We lost Viktor, Kai was out, and Gabriel Jesus was out. So we needed a solution. He did it last year really, really well.

“I think this season he’s probably taking it to another step because he’s able to do even more things.

“So I think the team is really grateful and he’s enjoying it.”