Mikel Arteta has explained his decision to keep faith in his younger players for Arsenal's Premier League trip to Brighton.
Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli started the Boxing Day victory against Chelsea and all retained their place for Tuesday night's game at the Amex.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did make his return to the side after a calf injury, but it was in place of experienced French striker Alex Lacazette.
When asked if the youngsters had helped rejuvenate his side for the derby day victory against the Blues, Mikel Arteta was keen to bring the focus on the team as whole.
"Well, I think it was the whole team. Some individual players, some were young, some senior players had a really good individual game," he told Amazon Prime.
"Collectively, we did what we had to do to beat a great opponent."
However, the Spaniard was also happy to heap praise on his youth talents and admitted he had no qualms with trusting them against in a crucial Premier League fixture.
"With the young ones they did what we expected. It’s what they’ve been doing when we give them games in the Europa League or in the cups," he added.
"And they did it in the Premier League so it’s no difference."
It could be argued that in the absence of Willian, Mikel Arteta's hand was somewhat forced in terms of picking the younger players.
But with Nicolas Pepe available selection, the Spaniard's decision to pick all three again shows that he is rewarding them for their fine display against Chelsea.
The victory on Boxing Day was the Gunners' first since November 1st and they'll be hoping to make it back-to-back wins for the first time since the opening two weekends of the season at the Amex.
