Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta defended his team selection for their 1-1 draw with Fulham.

Arteta made five changes from the win at Europa League opponents Slavia Prague on Thursday.

The manager said, "There are different reasons for that. One of them is because some of the players haven't recovered yet from Thursday night, they have played so many minutes and it was a big risk to play them. Some of them because they deserved an opportunity, but we cannot change 10 players all the time.

"We took some decisions, like with Laca to play in the game, because he felt good, and he still got injured. It's always a balance. If you rest them, [you're asked] why do you rest them? If you don't, [you're asked] why do you play them again?"