Arsenal defender Rob Holding described his long awaited return from injury as ‘brilliant’ after he scored in Tuesday night’s 5-0 rout of Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup at the Emirates.

The 24-year-old was named in the starting XI by Unai Emery for the first time in just over nine months after he ruptured his ACL against Manchester United last December.

Holding scored the Gunners' second goal of the night on 71 minutes with a towering header and he couldn't hide his delight after the game.

"It's been a long process and there's been lot of long days in the gym with me and Hector, but I couldn't have written it any better myself to make that comeback,"

"The way it panned out was just brilliant."

His goal also came while wearing the captain's armband, which he had taken from Mesut Ozil 30 seconds before scoring after the German was substituted.

"When I got told I was vice captain I was over the moon, so when Mesut came off and passed the armband over I was so happy," he said.

"Then it went perfectly again, Reiss put a great ball in and I managed to get my head on it.

"I only turned 24 the past Friday. But putting the captain's armband on at 24 is a proud moment for me."