Calum Chambers played 90 minutes as a defensive midfielder for Arsenal’s under-21s last night and his performance impressed manager Steve Gatting.

Desperately short of options in the centre of the park due to the absence of Mikel Arteta, Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere, Arsene Wenger appears to be grooming the 20-year-old for a potential run out in the position during December.

Speaking to Arsenal Player after the 2-1 win at the The Amex, Gatting played up Chambers’ versatility: “It was great for the lads to play with him [Chambers].

“I think it was good for Calum to get 90 minutes under his belt and for such a young lad he has got a lot of experience and tonight I thought he was excellent.

“The boss has seen him play several positions and it is handy for the first team to have a player like Calum. He can perhaps play in central defence, at right back and in midfield and he gives the boss options and that is good for Calum to play in different options.”

Arsenal face Sunderland on Saturday before trips to Olympiacos and Aston Villa. You suspect if the boss is serious about giving Chambers a run out in the DM role he’ll try it sooner rather than later, especially with tricky games against Manchester City and Southampton on the horizon.

If the opportunity is handed to him, it’ll be a huge test for a player who has struggled for game time since January having initially impressed on his arrival from Southampton 18 months ago.

Arseblog News isn’t wholly convinced we’ll tread this path just yet given Mathieu Flamini has two functioning legs and Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are back from injury…but we’ll see. It’s not like any of us expecting Francis Coquelin to do what he did either.