Mikel Merino has said our defeat to Tottenham in the north London derby in Hong Kong on Thursday can fuel the team for the season ahead.

We went down 1-0 inside the sold-out Kai Tak Sports Park in the first-ever meeting with Tottenham held outside of the UK.

And afterwards, our midfielder said the players have to take the positives from the performance.

“It’s not the result we wanted,” Mikel said. “Obviously, winning is a priority for us, but in pre-season, there are other things that have a lot of value, like getting fit, keeping that connection with the fans here in this amazing city.

“We adapted quickly to the pitch, to the opponent, I think we dominated most of the game. The result is obviously the worst part, but we have to take the positives.

“Obviously, this feeling is going to be the gasoline for the season to keep growing, keep learning and hopefully go upwards.”

The game brought the curtain down on our two-week Asia Tour, following two wins in Singapore. Merino said he was blown away by the reception the players received.

“The support has been amazing throughout the whole tour. Thank you very much to the whole fan base, because I know it’s hard for them to support us during the season, sometimes with times that are not ideal for them. But thank you very much because it was lovely.

“It was an amazing two weeks. I think always when you come to these kind of tours, you have a lot of excitement about it.

“ Time to discover new places, new parts of the world for us. And at the same time, show what Arsenal is, the culture, the family we are in a different country. So overall an amazing experience and hopefully we’ll come back soon.”