Arsenal plan to appeal against the red card shown to 16-year-old Max Dowman during their shock Carabao Cup defeat to Fleetwood Town on Tuesday.
The teenager was dismissed in the 85th minute for kicking out at Harrison Neal following a heavy challenge in the encounter, which ended 1-1 before the League Two side won on penalties to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
According to the Press Association, Arsenal are preparing to challenge the decision, with the necessary documents expected to be submitted to the Football Association by 1pm on Thursday.
The club are also hopeful of receiving a verdict before their next Premier League fixture against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Dowman’s dismissal came during a disappointing evening for Mikel Arteta’s side, who made nine changes to their starting line-up and struggled to impose themselves against their lower-league opponents.
Fleetwood took the lead in the 21st minute through Aaron Loupalo-Bi, who fired past goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard came on at half-time, and Viktor Gyökeres equalised five minutes into the second half.
However, the visitors failed to find a winning goal, while Fleetwood goalkeeper Jay Lynch emerged as the hero in the penalty shootout after saving Bruno Guimarães’ effort.
Teenage defender Conor Haughey subsequently converted the decisive kick to seal one of the competition’s biggest upsets.
Ødegaard urged his teammates to put the disappointment behind them and focus on their upcoming assignment against Liverpool.
“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.”
He added, “We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. 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 also acknowledged Fleetwood’s achievement, admitting that Arsenal were disappointed with the outcome.
“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.”
Arsenal, who moved level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League over the weekend, will aim to recover from the setback when they face Liverpool on Sunday.
