'Viktor Gyokeres would rip my head off' fears Sweden boss Graham Potter during live TV moment

Viktor Gyokeres is in red-hot form with Sweden, scoring two in two in the Nations League

Graham Potter fears Viktor Gyokeres "would rip my head off" if he dared bench the in-form Sweden forward.

Despite playing just 29 minutes of Premier League football this season, Arsenal's Gyokeres has been instrumental for Sweden during the Nations League. He's started against both Romania and Poland and has netted in both victories.

International fixtures are coming thick and fast, with squad recovery a concern for Potter. But Sweden's head coach has no intention of dropping his in-form striker - admitting it wouldn't go down well with Gyokeres.

He told Viaplay: "He has an extra day to recover - these guys are used to playing on a tight schedule. If I told Viktor he wanted to rest, he would probably rip my head off, I think."

Gyokeres replied to the comment: "I may not rip his head off; we need his head, but it's clear you want to play. It's important to get ready. We have one more day of rest before the next one."

Potter has been full of praise for his talisman striker, who has helped at both ends of the pitch. He added: "It was a tough match [against Poland] and we needed to win. He headed balls away.

"We focused on winning, and now we're going to try to get everyone to recover. He's ready to play. If he had been allowed to go out earlier, he might have been p***** at me."

Sweden play Bosnia & Herzegovina next Friday night, with the return leg against Romania ending the extended international break before Gyokeres returns to north London.

With Kai Havertz out due to a hamstring injury and no clear indication on when he will return to action, Mikel Arteta will hope Gyokeres brings his international form back to Arsenal ahead of a tough run of fixtures.

The Gunners return to domestic action with a home clash against Leeds, but away trips to Bayern Munich and Liverpool are on the horizon. After scoring against Romania, Gyokeres has insisted that he "always wants to be on the field" and will work hard to play as much as possible this season.

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