Unai Emery confirms defensive trio will feature against Nottingham Forest

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has confirmed that the trio of Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney could feature for the Gunners when they tackle Nottingham Forest in the League Cup third round tonight.

The north London side are scheduled to face Forest in just over 48 hours after the league clash against Aston Villa and Emery has acknowledged that a number of first-team players will be rested.

Still, Emery has a number of stars to call upon and he has confirmed that Holding may start the game with Bellerin and Tierney also being involved for some time.

"Holding, I think, will play on Tuesday. With Hector and Tierney we will want to use them. I don't know if it's starting in the first XI. If they're feeling well," he was quoted as saying by Goal.com.

Holding has already played in a number of Under 23 games for the Gunners and he should have gained sufficient fitness to play through the 90 minutes versus Forest.

Bellerin and Tierney, on the other hand, have managed just an hour of play with the development squad since returning to first-team training and they are unlikely to last the entire game against Forest.