Arsenal took an inexperienced squad on their trip around Ukraine ahead of their Europa League group game against Poltava on Thursday night.

With qualification already sealed, Arsenal know a win in Kiev will secure top spot in the group.

Despite that, Unai Emery has opted to leave a host of senior players at home with a watchful eye on Sunday’s match against Tottenham Hotspur who will be buoyed by their 1-0 win over Inter Milan on Wednesday night ahead of one of their two cup finals of the season.

Speaking to the press, Emery was asked about the young players in his squad. “We have a big responsibility with young players,” the head coach said.

“At Arsenal, every year we are working very well with young players. When there are matches like tomorrow’s in a very big week for us, where we are playing a lot of matches, we have players to cover here. We need to give them chances. They are working with us in all the sessions and also in pre-season.

“They are coming with us because we can give them chances tomorrow and also because we would prefer for some players to not do this long travelling. We prefer for them to stay in London working for the next match on Sunday. The Europa League is very important for us and it’s very important for us to win tomorrow and come first in this group.

“The young players are going to have chances. Then you know that some players like Eddie Nketiah, like Willock, like Emile Smith Rowe, have played. Then other younger players are coming through with us like Bukayo, Dominic, Zech and Charlie. For us, it’s not different because they are working with us every day.”

Bukayo Saka, Dominic Thompson, Zech Medley and Charlie Gilmour are all included in the Arsenal squad along with Dejan Iliev, Jordan Osei-Tutu, and Tyreece John Jules.

Click next to read what Arsenal.com had to say about the four exciting players Emery named: