Mikel Arteta is ready to call upon Arsenal’s young stars to help overcome a congested fixture list as football restarts this week.
The Gunners resume their campaign following the coronavirus shutdown against Manchester City on Wednesday night, and have 10 Premier League games left to play as they look to secure a European spot for next season.
Arteta’s side are also still in the FA Cup, facing a quarter-final tie against Sheffield United, and with the games coming thick and fast, squad depth will be crucial, particularly with players coming back off such a long absence.
Premier League rules have been adapted to allow five substitutions per game, as well as larger matchday squads of 20, and while Arsenal have already leaned heavily on teenage stars such as Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli this season, the Spaniard is expecting to give more youngsters a chance.
In Pictures | Arsenal thrash Charlton 6-0 in friendly | 06/06/2020
“We have five games in 15 days, that's a game every three days,” he said. “We don't know how the players are going to respond physically because we have had a really short preparation time.
“We have to use them, we have some really talented young boys that are asking for chances.
"I'm sure at other clubs the situation will be the same and I think at some stage we will be forced to use some of them with the amount of games that we are going to be playing in that space of time.”
Another academy graduate set to feature is forward Eddie Nketiah, who was recalled from his loan spell at Championship side Leeds United in January and subsequently integrated into the first team.
The 21-year-old started in each of the Gunners’ three consecutive Premier League wins immediately before the shutdown and scored a hat-trick in a pre-restart friendly against Charlton earlier this month.
“We treat Eddie as an important part of our squad,” Arteta added. “We had to make a very important decision not to let him go out on loan again after the spell he had at Leeds.
“I watched him train and I am convinced that he is the right player for us, to move us to the next level and that he can contribute in a big way to the way we want to play. He has been fantastic so far.”
