Alan Pardew feels an Arsenal man who hasn’t made Mikel Arteta “comfortable” of his game during his time at the Emirates will play sparingly and not in big games.

The Gunners saw off Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Sunday evening. It wasn’t the greatest performance, and it took until the 80th minute for the only goal of the game, scored by substitute Noni Madueke.

The winger had been brought on at half time for Eberechi Eze, who started the game on the left flank for Arsenal.

But Eze struggled to have much impact at all, failing to create a chance and having just one touch in the Forest box. And after his struggles and the goal scored by Madueke, it’s felt he might find game time hard to come by.

Alan Pardew believes Arteta will be unwilling to give Eze much responsibility now.

He told talkSPORT: “In the way he sets up his No.10, I don’t see Eze getting a lot of action there.

“There’s a real defensive side to that No.10 position he likes that Martin Odegaard does and Eze doesn’t do.

“I think Arteta doesn’t feel comfortable with that.”

Eberechi Eze won’t play in big games

Pardew added that in big matches, Eze is likely to see very little of the pitch.

He said: “In certain games, against lesser opposition, Eze will be given that No.10 position.

“But I’ve seen him on that left side for Crystal Palace a few times and it’s just not him. He’s never going to go down the left-hand side and whip crosses in, he wants to come and play centrally. He’s going to make the game too narrow and therefore you’ve not got enough width, so it’s a problem.

“Arteta took him off rightly, in my opinion, as it just wasn’t working.

“In the first instance, though, perhaps he shouldn’t have started him there, and used him as an impact as a No.10. And I think that will be his role at Arsenal, if they need a goal.

“I don’t think Eze is going to be a starter for Arsenal, I think he’s a sub and if they need a moment, then the manager can give him the last 10-15 minutes of games.”