Arsenal's FA Cup flops may have wasted final chance to impress Arsene Wenger, warns Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker has warned Arsenal's FA Cup flops may have wasted their last chance to impress Arsene Wenger.

The Gunners captain was one of nine changes in the club's starting line-up against Nottingham Forest as the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Hector Bellerin and Petr Cech for Theo Walcott, Mathieu Debuchy and David Ospina and a handful of youngsters.

The managerless Championship outfit took advantage of a sloppy defensive showing from their Premier League visitors, scoring twice in each half including two second-half penalties.

It was a first third-round exit for the FA Cup holders since 1996 and Mertesacker hinted that certain players may have severely damaged their first-team hopes with the loss.

"The manager made a lot of changes, gave a lot of trust to players who haven’t played a lot recently and I don’t think anybody justified their selection today," the captain told the club's official website. "That sums it up I think.

He added: "In the first half we played in the park a little bit. We were not precise, especially in the final third. We couldn’t create a lot of chances.

"In the second half there was a little bit more spirit from ourselves, but in the duels, you could see that they out-battled us and that little momentum never really changed.

"When we scored to make it 3-2 and when he miskicked the penalty, obviously we expressed it to the ref but he didn’t listen.

"It’s difficult to take because for those players who played today, that was probably a last chance to show up and show the manager that they’re ready to play more games. It’s not the case anymore."