Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has lifted the lid on why he opted to hand on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Mat Ryan a surprise start for the Gunners' Premier League clash with Fulham at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon.
Ryan was one of five changes that Arteta, who watched his side ease past Fulham at Craven Cottage on the opening day of the season back in September, opted to make following Thursday evening's 4-0 win over Slavia Prague in the second-leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final in the Czech Republic.
Alongside Ryan being handed a rare outing, Hector Bellerin, Gabriel Magalhaes, Mohamed Elneny and Gabriel Martinelli all returned, highlighting Arteta's desire to give his team a freshness after such a long-distance away day just a few days ago.
Despite being without the likes of Kieran Tierney, Martin Odegaard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for this lunchtime's clash with the Cottagers, Arteta still had a big pool of players to choose from, meaning he had the luxury to make changes.
Ahead of kick-off, Arteta lifted the lid on his decision making, confirming the changes were nothing more than "rotation" and that Ryan's return to the starting line-up was a reward for the way he goes about his work on the training ground.
"It was a really big win for us, we did it in a very convincing way, scoring four goals, keeping a clean sheet and being through to the semi-final is what we wanted," Arteta told Sky Sports. "It’s about putting in another strong performance today.
"It’s rotation, it’s precaution, there are players that haven’t recovered from the day, so we have to be very careful.
"There are others that deserve to play - for example, I put Mat in goal today because he trains like a beast, he’s been really positive around the place, he’s been doing very well and he deserves the chance."
Ryan joined the Gunners on loan from Brighton in January in a bid to provide some much-needed competition for first choice shot-stopper Bernd Leno.
Since making the move, Ryan, prior to today's tussle with Scott Parker's side, had featured just once for Gunners, starting the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on February 6.
