Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits he's putting his young players on trial ahead of their Europa League tie with Olympiakos.

The way his young Arsenal players deal with the passionate sell-out crowd in the Karaiskakis Stadium will tell him all he needs to know about their courage and their character.

Arteta said: “I won't know how the young players react until we expose them to this kind of pressure.

“They can go into game with all the best intentions but they need to go need to come to a stadium like this and have the courage to keep playing when they make a mistake or a bad decision.

“That's what I expect from them and if they keep trying they will have my full support.

“But if they hide, I won't like it. And that goes for all the players, whether they are 17 or 35.

“We have no doubts about what to expect from the crowd. Sokratis has made us all very aware of the passion of their fans and we have to be ready for a very difficult challenge.

“I'm really excited to be taking charge of my first match in Europe because it's going to be totally different to everything we're used to in the Premier League and we have to adapt to that.

“We have a big squad and we can rotate the players, but games in Europe won't be any more physically demanding than in the Premier League, that's for sure.

“Olympiakos is a team with very clear ideas of what they want to do. They don't change their game in relation to the opponent, whether it's a big club in Europe or a small team in the domestic league.

“I have been highly impressed with the collective function of their team."