The Arsenal u18s won a friendly against Exeter City last weekend ahead of their FA Youth Cup clash with Crewe Alexandra on Saturday afternoon.

Jack Wilshere’s Arsenal u18 side face Crewe Alexandra in the FA Youth Cup on Saturday afternoon at Meadow Park, but ahead of the game they’ve only played one competitive fixture in the last 27 days.

The u18s won that one fixture against Derby County in the u18 Premier League Cup on November 23rd, but they definitely could have been a bit rusty going into this weekend with no games since then.

As a result, the u18s opted to play a friendly against Exeter City last weekend.

The u18 friendly took place at London Colney, behind closed doors, but Exeter provided some updates on the contest.

The game was split into three 30-minute segments, with Exeter initially taking the lead, but Arsenal equalising before the end of the first period.

The two teams were still level after the second 30 minutes, but Arsenal netted a few more goals in the final period of the game to ease to a comfortable victory.

After the game, Exeter’s Head of Coaching and Player Development, Brad Miller, gave his thoughts on the occasion.

“I’m very pleased we had the opportunity to do this,” Miller said. “It was a long trip, but we were well looked after.

“This trip demonstrated to the lads the professional aspect with travelling, and it was a new experience for a lot of them. The pitch was outstanding despite the temperature, but seeing all the minute details was good for the boys.

“Arsenal had us pinned back for long periods, and utilised the width. They were rotating a lot into the spaces, but our boys handled that, and defended their shape and passed people on well.

“But we have got to be more ruthless. We had four, five or six chances to be, but we weren’t and yet Arsenal were, so there was a bit of a difference in both boxes.”