DAVID Wheater was sent off as Wanderers matched their worst-ever start to a Premier League season with a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal.

Owen Coyle's side battled valiantly for 45 minutes and deserved to head in at the break on level terms.

But less than a minute after the restart, Robin Van Persie struck for the Gunners – signalling the start of a miserable second period.

Wheater was sent off for a professional foul on Theo Walcott, who had raced through on to Aaron Ramsey's pass.

That gave Wanderers a huge mountain to climb, and it wasn't long before Van Persie added a second – his 100th Premier League strike.

Alex Song then added a third goal in the last minute from the edge of the box to compound the misery, and leave the Whites smarting from a fifth successive league defeat.

Gary Cahill had stayed at home through illness, leaving David Wheater to take his place in the side, while Kevin Davies was dropped from the starting line-up in a Premier League match for the first time in nearly three years.

He had to wait just 20 minutes to enter the action, however, as his replacement David Ngog had to be helped off the pitch after a clash of heads.

The changes appeared to have worked at first as Wanderers frustrated during the early stages. And they could have snatched a goal too – with Wheater and Darren Pratley going close early on.

But Wheater's dismissal all but ended their chances of reversing their poor run in the league, and left Wanderers bottom of the table.

Their three points from the first six games equals the low set by Sammy Lee's side at the start of the 2007/8 season.