Pires plays in special friendly

Robert Pires played the full 90 minutes of a specially-arranged friendly at Arsenal’s training ground today.

Pires, who was stretchered off after damaging cruciate ligaments against Newcastle in March, made his comeback in a 5-1 win over QPR and scored one of the goals.

The 28-year-old France international midfielder told Arsenal.com: “I am delighted to have come through the full 90 minutes.

“Six months is a long time to be out so this is a very happy day for me.”

Pires, voted Footballer of the Year last season, added: “Physically I feel very good.

“I’m not tired, although obviously it will take a while for the technical side of my game to come back. But I’m very happy with how it went today.”