Reyes revitalised after Euro goal

Jose Reyes cannot wait to face Chelsea on Sunday after admitting his confidence had fallen so low he feared he would be axed by Arsene Wenger.

The Spaniard’s recent slump in form mirrored Arsenal’s own mini-crisis, and before Tuesday’s 5-1 drubbing of Rosenborg he had not scored for more than two months.

It took less than three minutes against the Norwegians for Reyes to end his barren run and he then played a key role in two of the other goals.

Reyes said: “It had been a long time since I scored and I did need to do something to get confidence and thank God it happened.

“I don’t think I played particularly well but the important thing was that the team won and finished first in the group.

“It’s always a worry for any player not to play and it’s down to the coach to pick the team and you have to trust him, and it’s good for me that he did trust me to play.”

Reyes would probably have been dropped had Freddie Ljungberg not pulled out with a migraine and the Swedish midfielder is doubtful for Sunday’s match with Chelsea.

Wenger said: “Freddie had a massive migraine and is not sure for Sunday. The doctors tell me it will take two or three days for him to get over it but it is not sure how he will recover physically.”

At least Wenger can now be assured that Reyes has recovered his confidence in time to play against their main title rivals – and the side against who the Spaniard announced his arrival on the English stage with a dramatic double to knock Chelsea out of the FA Cup last season.

Reyes added: “I have scored in every game except one against Chelsea so, God willing, I will score again on Sunday.

“It was very important against Rosenborg. It’s not easy to win in the Champions League let alone win 5-1 and this will give us incredible confidence going into the match on Sunday.”

Arsenal will be without captain Patrick Vieira due to suspension as well as their injured Brazilian midfield duo Edu and Gilberto, but Dennis Bergkamp has no worries about Cesc Fabregas, 17, and 20-year-old Mathieu Flamini.

Bergkamp said: “The youngsters proved they can handle the big occasion. The young players will cope with the pressure of playing Chelsea, and they have enough experienced players around them that can help with the experience. The main thing for those players is to just go out and play against Chelsea.

“They do not know pressure and they just want to play. You could see that on Tuesday.”