Wenger hails Robert the great

Arsene Wenger hailed Robert Pires as “one of the greatest players I have ever worked with” as he tipped the Frenchman to show his true worth on his return to the Arsenal side tonight.

Arsenal must cope without Patrick Vieira, Fredrik Ljungberg, Sol Campbell and Dennis Bergkamp away to Lokomotiv Moscow as they search for only their second win in 11 Champions League ties.

Wenger is therefore hoping Martin Keown and Ashley Cole will shake off shin and knee injuries respectively to make the starting line-up in the Russian capital.

Pascal Cygan is nevertheless on stand-by and such is the scale of Arsenal’s problems that youngsters Justin Hoyte, David Bentley, Stathis Tavlaridis and Jeremie Aliadiere have made the trip as cover.

Indeed, with seven players out on loan, there will not even be a midfielder on the bench as the strength in depth of Arsenal’s squad is called into question.

However, while Edu must attempt to replace Vieira, Pires will return in place of Ljungberg after starting on the bench for the past two games.

Having been roundly criticised for his alleged dive against Portsmouth, the Frenchman played poorly against Inter Milan as Arsenal began their group stage with a 3-0 home defeat.

He was dropped for the next match at Old Trafford and was again on the bench for last Friday’s 3-2 win against Newcastle.

But Pires still made a positive impression as a substitute in delivering the free-kick from which Gilberto Silva made it 2-2, and Wenger is now confident he will again show his true self in Moscow.

The Arsenal manager declared: “Robert had a little physical problem and that was why he didn’t play in the recent games.

“Sometimes when you have a rest for a few games, though, you can come back sharp again.

“Robert is one of the greatest players I have managed and I have been in the game for a long time.

“He has been a tremendous player for us and I think he will bounce back very quickly.”

Wenger also insisted his players would not allow the prospect of their Football Association charges following the ugly post-match scenes at Old Trafford to overshadow their performances.

Six of his squad have been charged with misconduct by the FA and, while Arsenal have not yet officially responded, they are set to request personal hearings for each player.

Wenger said: “When you are at a big club, you have to cope with all kinds of pressures.

“Unfortunately some of those are negative, but big players must be mentally strong to cope with everything and that’s the kind of players I have here.”

More pressingly, Wenger is hopeful Keown and Cole will be able to take up their places in defence, especially with Campbell now targeting a return at Anfield on Saturday following the death of his father.

“Sol is back in full training, but is still a bit short physically and, of course, still a bit down too,” explained Wenger.

“I think Ashley and Martin will be playing, but Patrick and Freddie are both out. Everybody who has trained with the first-team and is fit has therefore travelled.”

This visit to Moscow is the first of back-to-back away games in Eastern Europe, with a trip to Dynamo Kiev to come next.

Wenger has, however, already set his team a target of three wins from their five remaining ties to make it through to the knock-out stages.

“I still think that nine or 10 points will qualify you. Winning our two home games and getting some points out of our next two away games makes that feasible,” he concluded.

“We have to get something out of this game, but whenever my players have had their backs to the wall in the past, they have always responded – and they will do so again.”