Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta played down Kieran Tierney's omission for victory over Nottingham Forest.

Arteta refused to be drawn on any deeper meaning behind his continued snub of Tierney, who dropped back to the bench after featuring for Arsenal in the midweek Europa League defeat to PSV Eindhoven. The Spaniard has overlooked the Scotland international in the absence of first-choice left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, instead playing Takehiro Tomiyasu out of position.

Tierney has taken the blow well though and vowed to maintain his professionalism in a bid to prove Arteta wrong.

When asked if there was a reason behind the call, Arteta said ahead of the win: "Nothing, every player, obviously the accumulation of minutes and they played Thursday night as well.

"We tried to name a team that is fresh and that is ready to win the game."