Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Nigerian star Alex Iwobi is among the youngsters who are not ready for the big stage after the side bombed out of the League Cup on Tuesday night.
Wenger's revelation came in the wake of Arsenal's 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday which featured debutants Iwobi, Glen Kamara, Christian Bielik and Ismael Bennacer.
Wenger, who rested most of his experienced players, stated says his young guns are not ready for the big stage yet as they were thoroughly thrashed by Sheffield Wednesday.
"The occasion was too much for the young players,' said Wenger. "They were not ready to play at this level, none of them. Two of the goals were from set-pieces. We were very naive. We had a lot of the ball but we didn't make a lot. We were too short in midfield.
"It was a bad night at the office for us. We lost the two players and after that were not good enough. We have two muscle injuries. I don't know how bad, we have to make a scan.
"I am concerned because we have a big game on Saturday at Swansea and the Champions League at Bayern Munich coming up, and already we are short. To lose two offensive players is damaging for us. Maybe too many experience players played here. We lost two and once I lost them I didn't bring on others because we couldn't afford to lose more."
Arsenal are now likely to miss the services of Walcott and Chamberlain in this weekend's league clash away to Swansea after the duo suffered injuries during the game.
They are also expected to be out of the UEFA Champions League game against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.