Arsene Wenger has credited injuries with his decision to start Francois Coquelin at centre-back in Arsenal's 3-1 loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
Despite missing Per Mertesacker and Rob Holding, Wenger persisted with his three-man defence, starting Coquelin in the middle of the three.
"I can explain to you that Mertesacker came into training yesterday morning, sick. That Holding had a thigh strain," admitted Wenger.
"That Debuchy had just come back from [being] a long-time absentee. That I don't see that big a problem to play in the middle of the [central defensive] two.
"You're a defensive midfielder or a defender, it's exactly the same. I don't think that was a problem in our game."
Source: tribalfootball.com