Arsenal stars praise Gabriel and Chambers for Liverpool clean sheet

Hector Bellerin and Petr Cech backed the defensive duo after they stepped in for Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker to help the Gunners earn a goalless draw on Monday night

Arsenal duo Hector Bellerin and Petr Cech have praised teammates Gabriel and Calum Chambers after the duo were "thrown into" central defence for Monday night's 0-0 draw against Liverpool.

Gabriel, 24, and Chambers, 20, made their first appearances of the season in Monday's stalemate at the Emirates Stadium, pairing up in central defence for the first time.

Regular centre-backs Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny were unavailable due to illness and a back injury respectively, but Gabriel and Chambers held firm to secure a point for Arsene Wenger's side.

"I think they had a good game, the fact that we are going home with a clean sheet says a lot," Bellerin told Arsenal's official website.

"It is difficult to be thrown into a game like this when you haven't had a lot of game time."

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech came to the rescue of his team with a couple of stunning saves in the first half, but the former Chelsea man was still impressed by the duo directly ahead of him.

"You need to believe that the players you have in the team they are for a reason and today Gabriel and Calum, they jumped in, they obviously did their best to help us win the game," he said.

"Today shows you need to have a squad full of players capable of playing anytime and today it proved that we are lucky to have four ready defenders."