The Gunners won 2-1, with Arteta starting 16 year-old pair Max Dowman and Marli Salmon at Field Mill.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Zubimendi were all rested while the likes of William Saliba are injured.
Asked how many training sessions he had practised this set-up in training, Arteta said: “Yes, once. Ten minutes.”
He continued: “Well, they had issues and they’ve been carrying issues.
“And the amount of games that we are playing, it’s obviously super-demanding.
“And it was the only time to try to make sure that we can clean those issues that they’re having to start the next sequence of two weeks before the break in the best possible way.
“And we had to make those decisions."