Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has broken his silence on what he said to Max Dowman after the teenager's red card as the Gunners were dumped out of the Carabao Cup

Mikel Arteta has revealed he merely reminded Max Dowman of a pre-match conversation after being caught on camera publicly dressing down the Arsenal youngster on a deeply embarrassing evening for the club.

League Two side Fleetwood Town caused a stunning upset against the Premier League champions to advance to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, after Dowman received a late red card.

The two clubs are separated by a staggering 84 places in the English football pyramid, with the Cod Army sitting 18th in the fourth tier. Yet Fleetwood defied all expectations to hold the Gunners to a 1-1 draw before pulling off an extraordinary victory on penalties.

Goalkeeper Jay Lynch denied Bruno Guimaraes' spot-kick before teenage centre-back Conor Haughey emphatically converted his to seal a remarkable 5-3 shootout win.

The final whistle triggered a mass pitch invasion at Highbury Stadium, as supporters celebrated one of the most sensational upsets in the competition's history.

Prior to that, however, Dowman was dismissed with just four minutes remaining after lashing out in retaliation to a robust challenge from Harrison Neal. He will now be handed a three-game ban, starting with this weekend's Premier League game with Liverpool.

Television cameras captured a visibly furious Arteta delivering a stern rebuke to the 16-year-old as the academy prospect trudged down the tunnel.

When asked by BBC Radio 5 Live what he said to Dowman — who had netted twice against Ipswich Town in the previous round — the Arsenal manager replied simply: "Something that we discussed already before the match."

He declined to elaborate any further. Yet Arteta went on to add: "We knew when we prepared the context of the match, we were very clear on the things to expect, the things that emotionally we have to dominate."

When pressed on whether Dowman had apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room, the Premier League winner said: "I don't know. I didn't speak to anyone.

"I haven't seen it [the red card] with the camera. You can't really see what happens. The decision was made by the referee and that's it. And even with 10 men, we have three big chances to score the second goal."

In his conversation with Sky Sports, Arteta stated: "I prefer to watch it back properly and then I can assess the situation."

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When asked a follow-up question regarding what the youngster could take away from the incident, the visibly frustrated 44-year-old replied: "Yeah, we all learn from everything, yeah."

However, Arsenal legend Paul Merson accused Arteta of mistreating Dowman. Speaking during Sky's coverage, he said: "It could easily have been a yellow, but you've got to remember he's 16, he's a kid and he wasn't having the greatest night and he's going to get frustrated.

"It's an old-fashioned tackle - he gets the ball then the player. If that's [Viktor] Gyokeres, who's an experienced international, he [Arteta] isn't doing that - but he does that to a 16-year-old kid. He's not the last person to get sent off for Arsenal, nor the first.

"If it was me, I'd have put my arm around him. It's still 1-1, they're still in the game. We all say things in life we wish we hadn't and if he [Arteta] could have that back, he'd do it differently."