Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says other players will have to step up like super sub Mikel Merino after the makeshift striker secured the Premier League title hopefuls a vital victory at lacklustre Leicester.

The Gunners arrived at the King Power Stadium reeling from Kai Havertz’s season-ending hamstring injury, meaning the top scorer joined Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli on the sidelines.

Arsenal’s makeshift front three failed to click at Leicester despite 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri impressing on the right, but Arteta’s decision to replace ineffective Raheem Sterling with Merino proved inspired.

The Spain midfielder admitted he had never played up front before but looked every bit the frontman as he headed the visitors ahead before striking home another to seal a 2-0 win.

“Very tough match,” Arteta said after a game that saw Myles Lewis-Skelly make a goal-saving interception shortly before the opener.

“The first half, especially the first 20 to 25 minutes, we struggled to get certain momentum because we did a lot of simple things very wrong, but the second half was very different.

“We had much more urgency, better intentions, better executions and then you can sense that the game was going in the direction that it had to go.

“Saying that, there’s a moment when we give the ball away in the middle of the park. The space is open in the counter and Myles has to make a magic touch to deny the goal.

“In the other end, then that’s when we score the goal and Mikel obviously made a huge impact to score the two goals.”

Asked if it was too simple to say that Merino is Arsenal’s goalscoring solution, he said: “Yeah, we’re going to have to share that, and we know that we’re going have a various contexts.

“We’re going to have to make a sub because a player is not performing or the opposition is doing something else or we’ve got a yellow card or it’s fatigue, and that’s going to restrict what we can do in terms of the personnel.

“But we have prepared for different scenarios. Then those scenarios have to work. Hopefully they will work as good as Mikel worked today.”

Merino admitted after the game it was the first time in his career he had played in that position.

And he said the goals were a present for his wife for Valentine’s Day because, he believes. she would “appreciate this more than a rose or some chocolate”.

Merino told TNT Sports: “This morning we were talking about it a little bit (playing as a striker) with one of the assistants and, honestly, it is a surprise because it is the first time in my career that I play that position, but yeah he told me to go striker, to make sure I go with my strengths, I think I solved it and luckily I could help the team with two goals today.”

Arsenal’s win saw them reduce the gap to leaders Liverpool – who drew 2-2 at Everton in midweek – to four points.

Arne Slot’s side can restore a seven-point cushion by beating Wolves on Sunday, but Arteta warned that the Gunners will fight until the end.

“With everything that happened in the last few days, it was a lot of noise as well, (we needed) to show how much we wanted,” Arteta said.

“That regardless of what happens, we’re going to really go for it, that we believe in the resources that we have, in the quality of our players, and we can still adapt and be very competitive and still win a lot of football matches.”

While Merino was the matchwinner, Nwaneri was the star player on Saturday lunchtime and former England international Joe Cole compared his footwork to that of Lionel Messi.

“Obviously his age is always something that puts a question mark on how we have to deal with him,” Arteta said of the teenager.

“But every sign that he’s given us is ‘let me go for it, let me go’. When a player is giving you all those signs, you should not stop it.

“You have to play with that freedom, with that creativity, with that confidence that he’s playing at the minute.

“The players around him believe in him, so let him go because he’s a massive threat, massive talent and he deserves to play.”

Leicester’s loss was their ninth defeat in 10 Premier League matches and came amid protests against the club’s leadership.

Boss Ruud van Nistelrooy said: “I’ve said this many times before, we’ve had good performances and again one today, to the maximum of our capabilities.

“We have to keep going like this, then results will come and luck will change in our favour.”