Arsene Wenger hinted he had no choice but to start Francis Coquelin in a three-man defence in Arsenal’s 3-1 loss at Manchester City.

Wenger appeared to have made a tactical switch when the lineups were revealed an hour before kick-off, Coquelin seemingly lining up a midfield three in front of an Arsenal back four.

However the Arsenal manager opted to continue with the three central defenders he has used since April, placing Coquelin in the heart of his backline alongside Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal.

The gamble backfired as Coquelin struggled to tame City’s backline, consistently giving the ball away and leaving his position. However Wenger insisted he had no choice but to start Coquelin after losing several more experienced centre backs.

“[Per] Mertesacker came in yesterday morning sick,” Wenger said. “[Rob] Holding had a thigh strain.

“[Mathieu] Debuchy has just come back as a long-term absentee.”

Wenger could also have used Mohamed Elneny, who has played at centre back on several occasions in the Europa League and was named among the substitutes, as was Debuchy.

Coquelin had trained as a centre-back before the start of last season when Arsenal had suffered an injury crisis but had never started a competitive match in that position for the Gunners.