Arsenal youngster Kyle Bartley was delighted to partner new signing Mikael Silvestre in defence for the reserve-team this week.

"It was terrific playing alongside Mikael," England youth international Bartley told arsenal.com. "He's a great player and I have watched him over the years. He was fantastic on Monday night and he was a great help communicating and his experience was brilliant.

"This season is massive for me. I feel if I can establish myself in the Reserves I can hopefully push on from there. Last year was disappointing for me but I think I have made quite a good start to this season and I just want to carry on with that.

"I am surrounded by fantastic players here and being able to play football is great. That is the way I like to play so being involved in that is good for me."