SLAVIA PRAGUE vs ARSENAL: Mikel Arteta could well start Max Dowman on Wednesday night in the Champions League

Mikel Arteta has backed "super positive" Max Dowman to bounce-back from his Fleetwood blip against Slavia Prague - on the ground where he wrote his name into the Champions League history books last season.

Exactly one year ago to the day, Dowman came off the bench to become the youngest ever player to feature in the competition aged 15 years and 308 days as the Gunners run riot, winning 3-0 at Fortuna Arena following two goals from Mikel Merino.

Now the attacker is targeting more minutes as he's serving a three-match domestic ban for violent conduct which means he will not be able to play in the Premier League until late November.

Arteta said of Dowman: "That's a chapter that is gone. It's a moment of learning from all of us, and we move on. You learn from the not-so-good ones, you have to make sure you learn from the great ones as well. And he's been engaged.

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"When you see the kids and today we spent some time together, talking about things in training, he's always super positive. When you're 16 you have a different way of looking at things and treating things, and that's what he brings to the team as well."

Slavia have not won any of their past 22 Champions League matches and Dowman is eyeing another record against the Czechs.

If he was able to find the target, he would become the youngest goalscorer in Champions League history, surpassing Ansu Fati's record of 17 years and 40 days.

Arteta has indicated Dowman could feature as he hailed the pair's relationship, noting the firm words he delivered last week when discussing his reaction to the 16-year-old's red at Fleetwood.

He concluded: "I sit down with him and I just say, have you seen my press conference? What do you think? I'm just honest with him.

"It's public so we just have this kind of relationship. I think it's the way it should be and if he thinks something different he needs to tell me. That's the relationship we try to build with our players.

"He's in a good place and that at the end is going to come out as a critical point in his career where he needs to learn about something that is going to be happening a few times every game for him.

"This is not something that's going to happen maybe once or twice a season, three or four times per game. Probably he's going to have to go through this kind of moment and he needs to master that because it's part of his game."

Arsenal are currently three points clear at the top of the Premier League and now they are looking to build some momentum in Europe, too, as they target a top-eight finish.