Arsenal U21 coach Ali full of praise for Timber after goalscoring comeback

Arsenal U21 coach Mehmet Ali sung the praises of Jurrien Timber after their 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers.

It marked Timber's first game at any level back since suffering an ACL injury on the opening day of the season.

The Holland international scored on Monday and Ali told arsenal.com: "It's been great having him and the lads gave him a round of applause in our pre-match meeting. It's never easy to be a professional footballer and suffer the injury that he had and miss a lot of football.

He's come into a new country and it's been difficult for him but since his return, he's been excellent. Whether that's been training with the first team or training with us, he's been a real good role model for the younger players and his performance showed that this evening.

He scored a very good goal showing tremendous ability to execute that finish. His decision-making and his whole performance for 45 minutes was very strong and the players will learn a lot through watching him."