Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain received a reminder of his early days at Saints as Arsenal avoided a huge FA Cup banana skin at Sutton United.

The England international played all his club games for Saints in the third tier priorr to a £12m move to the Gunners in the summer of 2011.

As a result, Oxlade-Chamberlain admitted he did enjoy the different scenery on Monday night at Paul Doswell's National League strugglers.

"I grew up in League One so I'm used to these kind of stadiums on tough away nights," he said.

"Having that experience again was one of the most exciting times this season - coming off the bus and seeing people in such close proximity.

"Everyone came out in force to support both sides.

"I really enjoyed it, even being on the bench in the first half, looking around and seeing all the fans enjoy it and then to have a few moments with the Sutton players in the dressing room at the end of the game.

"That's what the cup is all about."

Arsenal travelled to Gander Green Lane knowing a shock loss would only add to the clamour for manager Arsene Wenger to leave at the end of the season.

But Wenger's decision to play a strong side paid dividends as Arsenal won 2-0 courtesy of goals from Lucas Perez and ex-Saint Theo Walcott, his 100th for the club, while Sutton performed admirably in defeat.

Arsenal will now face another Vanarama National League side for a place in the semi-finals, with Lincoln visiting the Emirates Stadium next month.

Having been thrashed 5-1 at Bayern Munich last week, and falling off the pace in the Premier League title race, Oxlade-Chamberlain knows it was vital to keep going in the FA Cup.

"The only thing we could do after a really disappointing result in midweek was to get a win," he said.

"We did that. We came here with a job to do and did that. We are into the next round of the cup and that's all that matters.

"Obviously it is good to get back to winning ways after any loss, even if it is against a team that is a good few leagues below you, so I'm glad we did that."

Arsenal do not play again until March 4, when they begin a potentially season-defining week with a tough league trip to Liverpool.

Defeat at Anfield would leave serious doubts hanging over Arsenal's top-four hopes, with the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 clash against Bayern three days later.

Wenger's side need a minor miracle to overturn a four-goal deficit but supporters will at least expect them to put up a fight before the weekend visit of Lincoln, which seemingly offers a comfortable route into the last four of the FA Cup.