Wenger worried as energy levels fall into the red

ARSENAL’S revival, still in its infancy, may well be put in danger ahead of a Carling Cup quarter-final against Manchester City tomorrow by a squad whose energy levels are already ‘in the red’.

Memories of a miserable start to the season and an 8-2 defeat at Manchester United have been put in the past by a run of 10 matches unbeaten since early October, a run that was kept alive by a 1-1 draw against Fulham at the Emirates on Saturday.

But Arsenal’s failure to beat a side they have never lost to in their entire history — and the leggy way they ended the fixture — highlights the way their season is still balancing on a knife edge.

City, after all, can afford to make 11 changes when they arrive in north London tomorrow, with midfielder Yaya Toure claiming the club’s reserve team would finish in the top four in the Premier League.

Arsenal’s squad, by comparison, is far thinner and manager Arsene Wenger fears energy levels are dangerously low despite spirits being high.

“Am I worried? Yes,” he said, after revealing both Theo Walcott and recently-returned Abou Diaby picked up knocks during a frustrating evening.

“We have a few players on the edge, like [Robin] van Persie of course, Walcott and [Aaron] Ramsey as well. You could see it today.

“I expected at 1-1 to have a bigger flow to put them under pressure but we had not the resources any more. We had a big Champions League match in midweek and you could see we are tired.

“I have to think about that for Tuesday. I want to play a team that will qualify and so I will try to pick a team considering the red alerts we have with some players. And I will pick as good a team as possible.”

Arsenal’s lack of spark was obvious when a Thomas Vermaelen own goal, sliding in to deflect the ball past his own keeper after a Danny Murphy cross came off John Arne Riise, put them in trouble the 65th minute.

The Belgian defender did make amends eight minutes from time, equalising with a perfectly-executed downward header from a Walcott cross; but although Arsenal huffed and puffed in search of a winner they didn’t have the energy levels to win a game that was clearly there to be taken.

In any season that would be two points dropped; and in this season when Arsenal made such a poor start it is particularly costly — leaving them sixth in the table, three points adrift of the top four.

“At the moment we need to come back to a strong position,” admitted Wenger, reflecting on his team’s overall revival. “I believe we have recovered but we have come from a position where we cannot afford to drop points. We come from so deep that every two points dropped is not good for us.”

Whether Arsenal can recover against City tomorrow is questionable; because the Carling Cup hangover from last season still pounds in the heads of many of their players.

It was a painful defeat at Wembley against Birmingham last March that sent Arsenal’s season spiralling from potential glory to eventual disaster; and although the search for silverware goes on, Wenger is reluctant to prioritise.

“The championship is more important than to win the Carling Cup,” he insisted. “But on the night we will want to win the game. What is important is to keep our run going.”

Incidentally, the match sees Samir Nasri return to north London for the first time since controversially engineering a move away from the Emirates and Wenger has urged home supporters to suppress their anger.

“We want to respect players who have played for us,” he said. “And that’s what we expect. But it’s always more important to support our team on Tuesday night than to be negative with the players of Man City.

“In the Carling Cup we have a different crowd anyway, people who are very young — it’s an occasion where we make prices very cheap for young people. You feel they are happy to be there and hopefully we can keep them happy.”