Arsenal are preparing for a Champions League clash against Slavia Prague, with 16-year-old midfielder Max Dowman pushing for a starting spot as the team travel to Czechia. Dowman's recent dismissal against Fleetwood brought a three-match domestic ban, ruling him out of Premier League action until November 29.
Arteta on the red card
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta dismissed concerns over Dowman's recent red card, saying: "That's a chapter that is gone. It's a moment of learning from all of us, and we move on."
Arteta also said: "You learn from the not-so-good ones, you have to make sure you learn from the great ones as well. And he's been engaged."
Training attitude
Arteta praised Dowman's upbeat mentality during recent training sessions. He said: "When you see the kids and today we spent some time together, talking about things in training, he's always super positive. When you're 16 you have a different way of looking at things and treating things, and that's what he brings to the team as well."
Arteta said: "I sit down with him and I just say, have you seen my press conference? What do you think? I'm just honest with him."
He added: "It's public so we just have this kind of relationship. I think it's the way it should be and if he thinks something different he needs to tell me. That's the relationship we try to build with our players."
What Dowman must learn
Arteta said: "He's in a good place and that at the end is going to come out as a critical point in his career where he needs to learn about something that is going to be happening a few times every game for him."
He also said: "This is not something that's going to happen maybe once or twice a season, three or four times per game. Probably he's going to have to go through this kind of moment and he needs to master that because it's part of his game."
Champions League record chance
If Dowman scores against Slavia Prague, he would become the youngest goalscorer in Champions League history.
