Freddie ready for Highbury return

Freddie Ljungberg has set his sights on making a long-awaited return to first-team action this weekend against Charlton as he looks to ease Arsenal’s suspension headache.

Arsene Wenger’s side are without Patrick Vieira, Ashley Cole and Lauren at home to the Addicks on Sunday, just four days after taking on Ajax in the Champions League.

Ljungberg has been their main injury worry over recent weeks, with a persistent ankle injury having failed to clear up.

Indeed, the last time the dynamic Swede played for the first team was back on December 21 and he has started just 17 games all season due to a run of hip, ankle, virus and Achilles problems.

However, he came through 74 minutes of a reserve game against Charlton last night and is now hoping to face the south-east London side’s senior 11 at Highbury this weekend.

Ljungberg, who scored on his third reserve outing, declared: “I’ll have to see how it is [nearer the game] but I can tell you straight away that it feels better than it did after the other two reserve games.

“I’m a bit fed-up with the setbacks I’ve had so hopefully it will work out this time. We were a bit more careful and I had some treatment afterwards.”

The Sweden international told the club’s website, www.arsenal.com: “The pace of the game is not really a problem, it’s more because they haven’t wanted me to play too long in case I get a reaction.

“We tried to keep my time on the pitch down because we had plans for other games, but unfortunately that didn’t work out.

“This time, I wanted to play for a bit longer and see how it felt, and hopefully it’s okay.”

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who may yet decide to introduce Ljungberg from the bench, insisted last week he was still confident the midfielder could “have a word in the final sprint of the season”.

Wenger added: “Even if we can only bring him on for 20 minutes, he has the bite to get into the box and force things when people are tired. He’s a winner.”

Especially because of his suspension problems, Wenger will also be keen to test Oleg Luzhny, who has been missing with a calf problem for three weeks and would replace Lauren at right-back if he is now fit again.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst is expected to fill Cole’s position at left-back, while Edu, Ray Parlour and possibly also Ljungberg could contest Vieira’s central midfield role.