McNicholas has been speaking on the Arsecast Extra Podcast and feels Smith Rowe may get another opportunity on Wednesday evening.
Smith Rowe has struggled for minutes at Arsenal over the past year after falling down the pecking order last season.
The 23-year-old was handed his first start in the Premier League this season on Saturday as Arsenal thrashed Sheffield United 5-0.
He managed to grab an assist at the Emirates Stadium as he set up Eddie Nketiah for his hat-trick goal.
And it seems that Smith Rowe could be handed consecutive starts by Arteta this week.
Smith Rowe could start against West Ham
Speaking on the Arsecast Podcast, McNicholas suggested that Smith Rowe could be in line to start against West Ham tomorrow.
“There’s a Carabao [Cup] game against West Ham on Wednesday night, you’d have to think he’s the sort of player who might look at that and think, that could be another start for me,” the Athletic journalist said.
Mikel Arteta decided to make a few notable changes on Saturday as the likes of Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Magalhaes were all rested.
It gave players Smith Rowe an opportunity to impress and it’s fair to say the Hale End Academy product took his opportunity. He assisted Nketiah for Arsenal’s third of the game and the forward admitted he loves playing alongside the playmaker.
Many Arsenal fans have been calling for Smith Rowe to get a run in the side as he’s fallen out of favour over the past year.
It would be a huge boost for the Englishman’s confidence if he was to start once again tomorrow night.
Smith Rowe has already proven he can operate at the top level for Arsenal and with Odegaard slightly out of form at the moment, it would make sense for Arteta to hand the youngster another start.
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