London [UK], October 29: Arsenal will appeal against Max Dowman's red card in Tuesday night's shock League Cup defeat to fourth-tier Fleetwood.
The 16-year-old was sent off for a kick out at Harrison Neal following a bruising tackle in the 85th minute of the match, which Arsenal lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Boss Mikel Arteta spoke briefly to the teenage star as he left the pitch at Highbury and the Press Association understands Arsenal plan to appeal against the sending-off, with documents needing to be submitted to the Football Association by 1pm on Thursday.
It is understood the club are hopeful a decision on Dowman's appeal will be made before the Premier League champions return to action at Liverpool on Sunday.
Captain Martin Odegaard warned the Gunners not to dwell on their surprise cup exit.
After Bruno Guimaraes was denied from 12 yards, Fleetwood's 19-year-old defender Conor Haughey stepped up to fire the hosts into the quarter-finals with one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history.
Arsenal fell behind to Aaron Loupalo-Bi's 21st-minute strike in a disjointed first-half performance after Arteta made nine changes.
Odegaard was introduced at half-time and Viktor Gyokeres quickly levelled, but Dowman was dismissed before Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch starred in the shoot-out to secure a memorable victory.
"It's very frustrating to go out," Odegaard said. "Obviously, the way we've played was not on the level. We need to do much, much better than we did.
"Frustrating, but congratulations to Fleetwood and we look forward to the next game already and bounce back.
"They did well so we have to give them credit, but I think (it) was about us not being on our level, we need to do better. I thought we improved during the game, but again, we need to step up even more - so that's a shame."
Arsenal will be back in the north-west at the weekend for a big test against Liverpool at Anfield and will need to have this disappointment well out of their systems before then as they look to keep the pressure on at the top of the Premier League, having moved level on points with Manchester City at the weekend.
"We can't feel sorry for ourselves," Odegaard added. "We need to move on - we have a big game at the weekend, so bouncing back at the weekend is all we can do now."
Arteta twice tasted success in this competition while part of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City staff and took Arsenal to the final last season, where they were on the wrong end of another City triumph.
This time the Arsenal boss had to hold his hands up as he congratulated Fleetwood on their success.
"That is why football is entertainment, especially in this competition and in this country, things like that" the Spaniard said.
"They believe in it and the people have it because of the history. We didn't want to go through this and we are extremely sad but we need to congratulate the opponent."
Source: Qatar Tribune
