Gabriel Martinelli limped off during Arsenal's defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, with Mikel Arteta admitting the attacker "felt something" in the first half.

The Gunners were dumped out of the competition at St. James' Park, It meant the north Londoners lost 4-0 after two legs but the defeat may come at a cost with Martinelli picking up an injury.

The Brazilian, who started the match on the right wing, Arteta did not take any risks with the 23-year-old and Ethan Nwaneri was immediately brought on in his place.

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. "Yes, he felt something," the Spaniard said. "I think it was his hamstring and he wasn't comfortable to continue so we'll have to do an MRI scan tomorrow to see the extent of the injury."

Arsenal now face an anxious wait to determine the severity of Martinelli's injury. The Gunners are expected to fly out to Dubai in the coming days, with Arteta's side now not in action until February 15 due to their third round FA Cup exit at the hands of Manchester United.

Arteta believes his squad can use the break to recharge ahead of the back end of the season. He said: "Yes, we need to swallow this one, it's a tough one. We had a lot of expectations, we knew the difficulty of the task because of the result that we brought from London but there's nothing we can do right now.

"What we could do is, we were on the pitch a few minutes ago, now we have to look forward. First of all, I think this is going to be a painful one and while we are in Dubai, recharge and then go again because we have still a lot to play."