Bergkamp set for Gunners return

Dennis Bergkamp is poised to return to Arsenal’s starting line-up for Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round clash against Chelsea at Highbury.

And that leaves Arsene Wenger to consider whether to select Thierry Henry or, as he did at this stage of the competition last season at Old Trafford, to rest his leading scorer.

Henry would have missed the third round tie at Leeds if Jeremie Aliadiere had not been taken ill on the morning of the game, while he sat out the fourth round fixture against Middlesbrough.

Wenger’s hand may this time be forced by injuries to long-term absentees Sylvain Wiltord and Aliadiere, while Kanu is preparing for Nigeria’s third-place play-off with Mali at the African Nations Cup.

New signing Jose Reyes is taking time to get accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the Barclaycard Premiership, while 19-year-old David Bentley has great potential but little experience.

At least Bergkamp should be back after missing the midweek victory against Southampton with a calf injury though.

Wenger told the club’s official website, www.arsenal.com: “Dennis Bergkamp looks likely to be fit again, but he is the only one who should be back.

“Sylvain will start running again next week but it takes another two weeks after that to be competitive.

“As for Jeremie, medial knee ligaments take six to eight weeks. He practises every day but it is different going into the battles and one-on-ones. At the moment he can’t do that.”

Fredrik Ljungberg, meanwhile, is also still out but hoping to be back from a rib injury in time for Arsenal’s next meeting against Chelsea – six days later in the Premiership.

“Freddie is more of a short-term case,” Wenger added. “There is a slight chance that he will be back in 10 days but it will be a maximum of 14 days.”

Arsenal have a superb record against Chelsea and while Wenger has normally used the FA Cup to rest a few players, he again stressed his commitment to the competition.

“Chelsea against Arsenal is always very interesting. We have needed a bit of a breather physically this week as the players were a little bit jaded,” he said.

“But we will come out and have a real go as we love the FA Cup and we want to win this game.”

While the pre-match focus will be on Wenger’s strikeforce, the Arsenal boss has been hugely impressed with his defence this season.

After all, while Arsenal had conceded 27 goals in the league by this time last season, they have now conceded just 16 and have the best defensive record in the Premiership.

“People forget about our defence,” Wenger added. “There has been a huge improvement but because we score a lot of goals people don’t talk about it.”

“Jens Lehmann has played his part in that, but I think, overall as a team, we defend better. Kolo Toure has come in well, Sol Campbell has had a fantastic season, while Ashley Cole and Lauren have both improved their defensive side.

“We are much more solid, that’s for sure. We have also played a few times with 10 men and that has helped us to work on things too!”