Henry not worried by fixture pile-up

Thierry Henry insisted that Arsenal have the squad to cope with their packed fixture schedule over the next three weeks as the Gunners bid to keep their treble challenge alive.

Arsenal face Manchester United twice within the next eight days even before they take on Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

The first encounter with United comes on Sunday at Highbury in the Barclaycard Premiership, with Arsenal looking to extend their unbeaten league run since the start of the season to a top-flight record of 30 games.

Arsene Wenger’s side, who also then face United in the FA Cup semi-finals six days later, are without Ashley Cole, who has been ruled out with a knee injury sustained in midweek.

Emerging 18-year-old French defender Gael Clichy, who proved an able deputy for Cole when he covered a three-match ban in December, as well as the Premiership win at Stamford Bridge, is set to replace the England international again.

Henry nevertheless believes that despite the relatively small size of Arsenal’s squad, they have the resources to cope with a fixture schedule that includes five high-profile games in the next 18 days, as well as a round of friendly internationals.

Henry, whose side also face Liverpool and Newcastle in the league, said: “Whenever players are missing, we cope well.

“We played without Patrick Vieira for a time at the start of the season and we played without many suspended players and have still managed to get results.

“Gael Clichy also played well at Chelsea in the league at left-back so I don’t think that will be a problem.

“When you play for a team like Arsenal or Manchester United, you know that at the end of the season, the important games will come and you have to deliver.

“I would rather be in that position. It also happens when you play in a great competition like the European Championships or the World Cup. You play great teams every four or five days.”

Many of the suspensions referred to by Henry emerged as a result of Arsenal’s loss of discipline in the melee which marred their goalless draw at Old Trafford earlier this season.

Those ugly scenes were sparked by Patrick Vieira’s dismissal amid claims that Ruud van Nistelrooy had play-acted, while the Arsenal players also goaded the Dutchman after his late penalty miss.

Vieira is, however, simply hoping that Arsenal can at least maintain their 12-point advantage over United rather than being distracted from their main goal.

“Every game from now until the end of the season is important but it is a dream and we are really enjoying it,” he declared.

“We play Manchester United and we want to keep a distance between us and them in the league. We play to win and with the players we have up front we can score at any time in a game.”

Arsene Wenger must decide whether to make any changes to his line-up for Sunday’s game, with Gilberto Silva hoping for a recall to the midfield and Jose Reyes also contesting a place.

Striker Jeremie Aliadiere is likely to be back in the squad after a thigh injury, but Sylvain Wiltord and Ray Parlour are both still ruled out.