Arteta admonishes Max Dowman after 85th-minute red card in Carabao Cup defeat

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confronted 16-year-old Max Dowman after the teenager was sent off in the 85th minute of Arsenal's Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out defeat to Fleetwood Town on Tuesday, and Dowman will serve a three-match ban.

Arteta spoke to Dowman as the player left the field and discussed the incident publicly for the first time on Friday, saying he had warned the attacker before the game about dealing with provocation and that he intends to hold the teenager to the same standards as other first-team players. The dismissal came after Dowman reacted to a heavy challenge by Harrison Neal.

Speaking of his exchange with Dowman, Arteta said: "I haven't seen the reaction to my reaction, whether it is positive or negative. But you need to understand the context and the relationship that I have with him and what we discussed just before we went out." He added: "But, I don't know. You can have another reaction. If you see the reaction of my father and my mother with me some days you might say 'I don't like the reaction'. For me, it was the best reaction to be who I am."

Arteta said he had spoken to Dowman on Thursday and there were "no issues at all" between them, while stressing he must be "very straight" with the youngster and clear about the standards expected of him.

The Arsenal manager noted that Dowman had also been sent off for the England U19s earlier this month after heavy challenges in a match with the United States, and commented: "They are his age. They are 16 – the same. What is the reaction? That is the level and that is the reaction. "And whether it is right or wrong, that is the reaction."

On the effect of the red card on his side, Arteta said: "And the reaction when I don't win, you want to know what my reaction is? I am [angry] big time. "So, we need to be ready for that. This is the environment and this is the reality, otherwise we are in Disneyland. We are not in Disneyland, we are in the Premier League and this level. "We look after him so much that you cannot imagine. "But at the same time we are going to demand from him, like everybody else, because he needs to earn the right to play. Because the other boys, what are they going to tell me? You need to be fair."

Arsenal appealed the red card but the Football Association upheld the decision; Arteta said he was "very disappointed" and added, "we are lucky today that he (Dowman) hasn't had a broken foot."