Declan Rice has pledged to 'finish the season strong' following Arsenal's defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. Nico O'Reilly fired Pep Guardiola's side to a 2-0 victory on Sunday evening, stopping the Gunners from winning their first major trophy in almost six years.
Rice had featured in each of the previous rounds, coming off the bench in wins over Port Vale, Brighton and Crystal Palace before starting in the first and second legs of the semi-final against Chelsea. The England international provided two assists on the route to Wembley Stadium, but had little to no impact in the final.
On Monday morning, Rice penned a message on social media. On his Instagram story, he wrote: "A final defeat doesn't define us. Only makes us hungrier to go on and finish the season strong. Thank you to our amazing fans, as always. See you after the break."
After the international break, Arsenal will lock horns with Southampton in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. A few days later, the Gunners will jet off to Lisbon to face Sporting in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
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In an interview with club media at Wembley Stadium on Sunday night, Rice reflected on the defeat. The 27-year-old midfielder said: "It’s very, very disappointing. Very tough. It's a final you didn't want to lose, but ultimately, today we’ve given them the two chances.
"We've got to look at ourselves, it could’ve been a different game if we scored that one in the first half. There were a lot of positives in the first half. But look, we keep going. A lot of positives to still look forward for the end of the season."
Rice continued: "Definitely, it makes it, but look, it's a final at Wembley, you never want to lose. I know how much it meant to the Arsenal fans today; you could sense that.
"But still now, we have three big competitions to play in. We need to stay positive, stick together and keep going because there's a lot to play for."
Looking forward to the final two months of the season, Rice said: "Top of the Premier League, still in the FA Cup, the Champions League. We could have been better today on the day but that's football.
"Now there's still so much to look forward to over the next two months. So we keep going, keep fighting for the badge, for the fans, and there's still so much to play for.
“I saw the fans today, how much it meant before the game, them singing for us - I was proud today to be an Arsenal player. You could see how much it meant to them to be in the crowd, to come out and support in their numbers across the city, to come here today.
"Obviously, we're gutted that we let them down because they deserve something. They've been with us, home and away, all season. They never give up, they're always with us.
"Like I said, it's disappointing we haven't won this one. But hopefully, there’s a couple of competitions that we're able to do well in still.”
