Almunia not involved for Gunners

Manuel Almunia did not feature in the Arsenal squad for this afternoon’s opening pre-season friendly at Barnet.

The Spanish goalkeeper was yesterday named in the group for the game against the League Two side at Underhill despite speculation this summer over his position as the Gunners’ number one.

But when the teams were announced, Lukasz Fabianski started between the posts with youngsters Wojciech Szczesny and Vito Mannone on the bench.

New signing Laurent Koscielny started in defence, while fellow summer arrival Marouane Chamakh was on the bench.