Campbell back for Gunners

Sol Campbell returned to the Arsenal side for the first time in 10 weeks in the Barclays Premiership match at Portsmouth tonight.

The veteran England defender – now fit again following a well-publicised leave of absence in the wake of a loss of form – was one of several changes by manager Arsene Wenger from the team beaten 2-0 by Manchester United last weekend.

Young Swiss defender Johan Djourou, Abou Diaby and Alexandre Song all started, while captain Thierry Henry lead the attack alongside Emmanuel Adebayor as the Gunners looked to close the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham.

Pompey, battling against relegation, were unchanged from the side which drew 2-2 with Blackburn, with record-signing Benjani Mwaruwari again preferred up front.

Portsmouth: Kiely, Priske, Primus, Stefanovic, Taylor, O’Neil, Davis, Pedro Mendes, D’Alessandro, LuaLua, Mwaruwari. Replacements: Ashdown, O’Brien, Todorov, Hughes, Routledge.

Arsenal: Lehmann, Djourou, Campbell, Toure, Flamini, Ljungberg, Song Billong, Diaby, Reyes, Henry, Adebayor. Replacements: Poom, Bergkamp, Van Persie, Hleb, Eboue.

Referee: U Rennie (S Yorkshire)