Mkhitaryan in Kiev: I’ve missed Donetsk more

Arsenal have arrived in the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev for their UEFA Europa League group-stage match against Vorskla Poltava.

The Gunners’ midfielder and Armenia captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan also took part in Wednesday’s pre-match press conference.

“I welcome all my fans in Ukraine,” TRIBUNA quoted Mkhitaryan as saying. “I’m happy to return here, since I’ve played at Donetsk’s Metalurh and Shakhtar; [but] I’ve missed Donetsk more.

“We were ready to play in Poltava; we are ready to play in Kiev.

“But it does not matter where we play. Of course for Poltava it’s a big disadvantage because they wanted to play at home.”

Ukraine has declared martial law in ten eastern regions of the country, and therefore Thursday’s match was moved from Poltava to Kiev.