'We're not in Disneyland!': Mikel Arteta fires warning at Arsenal wonderboy Max Dowman, 16, after red card - and says it's not his first offence... as he admits Fleetwood loss left him 'p***ed off'

Mikel Arteta has told 16-year-old Max Dowman 'we are not in Disneyland' as he insists his age does not give him a free pass following his red card against Fleetwood.

Dowman was sent off in the 86th minute of Arsenal's shock Carabao Cup defeat by Fleetwood on Tuesday after kicking out in retaliation to a challenge by Harrison Neal.

It was the second time he has been sent off this this month, having also seen red while representing England's Under-19s.

After the club's appeal was rejected by the FA, Dowman will now miss Arsenal's Premier League matches against Liverpool, Hull City and Newcastle.

As the teenager left the field, manager Mikel Arteta gave him a scathing look and uttered a few words to the attacker, understood to be: 'Get to the changing room, Max.'

And on Friday he suggested Dowman should have kept his cool under provocation.

Arsenal star Max Dowman (second from right) looks shocked after the referee shows him a red card at Fleetwood Town

Manager Mikel Arteta has words with the distraught youngster as he leaves the field

Arteta said: ‘I haven't seen the reaction to my reaction. But you have to understand the context, the relationship that I have with him and what we discussed just before we went out.

‘You want to always have the best reaction, the beautiful one. But do you want to see the reaction of his team-mates when they have to play with the 10 men, you want to see that? What do you expect?

‘I don't know. Or the England (Under 16) ones, they are his age, 16, the same. What is their reaction?

‘Whether it’s right or wrong, that's the reaction. And the reaction when I don't win, you know what is? I’m p***** off big time.

‘We have 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 at this level.

‘We look after him so much that you cannot imagine, and at the same time we are going to be demanding that anybody continues to earn the right to play. Otherwise what are the rest of the boys going to tell me? It needs to be fair, that's all.’

He further explained that his touchline reaction was borne out of frustration having told Dowman to not react to such a scenario before the game.

‘I thought we discussed that before the game,’ the Spaniard said. ‘It was related to what could happen. Not only the red, but the 10 seconds before, the way he (Dowman) comes to receive the ball, what kind of ball that is, and after that if he gets tackled, what happens next. Exactly that.’

Arteta revealed he had spoken with Dowman about the incident. 'I had a talk with him yesterday,' he said. 'No issue at all. I've done it, so I try to prevent that.

'That's why I'm so protective of these things, and especially with young players, because we have made those mistakes. And you know how much you can get punished and how much it can change what happens next.'

On the FA’s decision to reject the Gunners’ red card appeal, he said: ‘Very disappointed, to be fair. Especially with the reckless tackles that he received, and then his reaction is minimal in relation to the action.

‘(We’re) disappointed that it's not been overturned after looking at the action back.

‘We have put every argument on the table to make a case for it. Not only the action, but when you look back at it in slow motion, the previous action and Max's action, it's clear that obviously we have a very different opinion.

‘And on top of that, I think you have to read the context of the player, the age.’

The severity of the challenge is also an issue for Arteta. ‘It could have been really bad, yeah,’ he said. ‘And we are lucky today that he hasn't had a broken foot. That's clear.’