Henry back to lift Arsenal after Bolton loss

Arsenal will be hoping the return of star striker Thierry Henry will inspire them to a much-needed victory in Wednesday's London derby against Fulham at Craven Cottage. The France frontman, who was beaten into third spot in the European Footballer of the Year Award announced Monday, is expected to take his place in the starting line-up after a neck injury forced him to miss the Gunners' 3-1 defeat away to Bolton on Saturday.

But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger warned against becoming overly reliant on the 29-year-old captain as his north London side bid to stay in the title chase.

"Thierry Henry has played a lot of games up front on his own this year and that is a lot of work to get through," said Wenger.

"However, I always think you should not focus on just one footballer. We know that Thierry is an essential player for us, but on individual occasions we can win without him."

Wenger will have noted that Arsenal's best Premiership result of this year's campaign -- a 1-0 victory at leaders Manchester United in September -- came without their talisman and Wenger will also be looking to Robin van Persie to provide some attacking flair with the Netherlands international due to return from a one-match suspension for Wednesday's game.

Czech Republic midfielder Tomas Rosicky could feature after being sidelined with a hamstring problem but Arsenal will have to do without defender William Gallas, who is out with a thigh strain.

The Gunners' reverse at Bolton leaves them in sixth spot in the Premiership and trailing leaders Manchester United by a mammoth 13 points, after the Red Devils drew 1-1 on Sunday with visiting champions Chelsea.

Wenger will be looking for an upturn in his sides' away form at Fulham, with the Gunners having gleaned just one point from a possible nine in their last three league games away from home, and the size of the challenge is not lost on midfielder Gilberto.

"Now it is time for us to realise every match must be like a final if we are to win the title," said the Brazilian, who scored at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday.

"When you let the other team score first, then it is even more difficult especially when you have been playing well and they hit you on the break."

Arsenal do, however, have a game in hand on all their rivals and could go third if they win on Wednesay and other results go their way.

They will be hopeful of gaining maximum points as hosts Fulham go into the game on the back of Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to promoted Reading.

The Cottagers, now 12th in the table, have gained just one victory in their last six Premiership games and will be wary of being sucked into the relegation mire as they face four away fixtures out of six in December.

Manager Chris Coleman will also have to face going into Wednesday's game with an injury-depleted side.

"We are fully stretched now," Coleman said after the loss at Reading. "We lost Franck Queudrue today, and Michael Brown and Papa Bouba Diop are only 60-70 percent fit. We have got to do a bit of work in January (in the transfer market)."

However, victory over Arsenal could the west Londoners climb into 10th spot, and defender Zat Knight knows what a good week could do for the club.

"At the moment the Premiership's very tight," he told the club's official website.

"You can win one and be in the top ten, or you can lose one and be near the bottom. We know that we're not out of it and we've got a tough game on Wednesday against Arsenal followed by a tough game against Blackburn.

"If we can get at least four points from those games, we'll be delighted."


[ Source from : espnstar.com ]