Wenger to shuffle his pack in pursuit of treble

ARSENE WENGER is prepared to mix and match his resources in pursuit of a Premiership, FA Cup and Champions League treble.

That may even mean omitting Thierry Henry from Arsenal's FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park against Manchester United the team who pulled off that famous hat-trick five years ago.

Wenger, who has already ruled out Ashley Cole, Gilberto Silva and Pascal Cygan from Saturday's game, refuses to confirm his plans for Henry.

He said: "Thierry is available and we have been lucky that all the players who played in the internationals [in midweek] have come back unscathed.

"But nothing is decided yet and I have to consider that we now face four big games in a week. It is a very difficult situation to manage. I have to consider the whole task and try to be successful everywhere."

Henry was only a substitute when Arsenal beat United 2-0 in the fifth round of the FA Cup last season at Old Trafford.

But it would still be a huge gamble if he is rested from the starting line-up tomorrow in order to recharge his batteries for Tuesday's Champions League match with Chelsea, which is delicately poised at 1-1.

Henry, who has scored 31 goals this season, played no part in Arsenal's run to the Carling Cup semi-finals but has missed just one Premiership game so far, as well as two FA Cup ties.

Wenger, however, was impressed by the way his team coped without their star performer in two of those games and may be ready to pair stg£10.5million Spaniard Jose Reyes with veteran Dennis Bergkamp at Villa Park.

French defender Gael Clichy, signed on a free transfer in the summer from Cannes, could start against United after impressing as a replacement for England left-back Cole last Saturday.

Captain Patrick Vieira and winger Robert Pires, who both pulled out of France duty this week to nurse minor strains, are virtually certain to play in the semi-final but reserve centre-back Cygan damaged an ankle in a friendly against Luton's second string and is out for up to a month.

Sylvain Wiltord, out since December with a damaged ankle, made his comeback in the same game and scored in a 4-0 win but will not be rushed back into first-team action.

Man Utd's Gary Neville has delivered an FA Cup warning to Arsenal ahead of their showdown tomorrow.

"There is a lot more to come from us. Arsenal are a really good side and we respect them enormously, but we are the one team that they know can beat them.

"When you hear people talking about Arsenal over the last couple of months, they have pushed us to the back of the queue a little bit.

"But there is such a fine dividing line between us."

Having secured the release of Neville and Paul Scholes from England duty, manager Alex Ferguson's biggest worry will be the fitness of star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who missed Holland's goalless draw with France after reporting for duty with a knee injury.

United are already without cup-tied Louis Saha, while Diego Forlan is not due back from Uruguay's stunning 3-0 World Cup home defeat to Venezuela until this afternoon and will only be considered in a dire emergency.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is almost certain to be handed a starting berth.