Wenger has said that he is hopeful that Abou Diaby will return sooner from the injury. The 24-year-old has been sidelined since October 16 with a niggling ankle problem after failing to fully recover from the effects of a crunching challenge by Bolton defender Paul Robinson the previous month.

Wenger had feared the France international would be set for an extended spell on the sidelines but the prognosis is now perhaps more positive, and Wenger told Arsenal TV Online: "Diaby is having a gradual test. He had the first on Wednesday - that was positive. He has another on Thursday, so we will see what comes out of it. At the moment the response is good."

Arsenal got their Barclays Premier League campaign back on track with a hard-earned 2-0 win at Wolves in midweek. the match was hard-fought because the condition of the pitch ensured that Arsenal wern't able to play their usual passing game - apparently Wolves had even delayed some of their much-needed football pitch maintenance until after this game had taken place!