In the aftermath of the youngster’s Carabao Cup dismissal, Mikel Arteta believes he has to balance the 16-year-old’s youth with the cold, hard realities of top-tier football.

He wanted to be straightforward with Dowman and treat him as he would other players in the squad. “Otherwise, we are in Disneyland. We are not in Disneyland, we are in the Premier League at this level and we look after him so much that you cannot imagine,” the Arsenal manager said today.

“But at the same time, we’re going to demand from him like anybody else because he needs to earn the right to play. Otherwise, the rest of the boys, what are they going to tell me? You need to be fair.”

Arteta also urged the need to be very protective of Dowman, while also being clear about what he expects of players, the team and the club.

Regarding Arsenal’s rejected appeal against his 85th minute red card against Fleetwood, the Spaniard was “very disappointed, especially with the reckless tackles that he received, and then his reaction is minimal in relation to the action … it could have been really bad, yeah. And we are lucky today that he hasn’t had a broken foot.”

Dowman’s absence for Sunday’s match away to Liverpool leaves Arteta with a dearth of wide players.