Wenger confident despite Henry blow

Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal can get the point they need to qualify for the Champions League knockout phase despite losing Thierry Henry for the crunch clash at Porto.

Gunners captain Henry will be suspended for his sides decisive Group G match on December 6 after being booking in the 3-1 win against Hamburg on Tuesday.

The France striker was yellow carded by Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen for barging into Hamburg's Joris Mathijsen following Robin van Persie's equaliser at the Emirates Stadium.

But Wenger is adamant Arsenal are strong enough to overcome the loss of their talismanic leader and get the draw they need to reach the last 16.

Arsenal are top of Group G with ten points from their five matches and lead second-placed Porto by virtue of their better head-to-head record against the Portuguese team.

Wenger, who claimed he would not go to Porto with the sole intention of playing for a draw, said: "It is a blow because we would like to go there with Thierry, but this team is strong enough to win without him.

"I haven't spoken to him yet so I don't know what happened. It would not be right to say he will be fined (by the club)."

He added: "Both teams will play the game to win but if it finishes in a draw no-one will be disappointed."

Although Henry's absence will be keenly felt in Portugal, Wenger could take comfort from the display of young substitute Theo Walcott, who could replace Henry against Porto.

England striker Walcott came on from the final 15 minutes as Arsenal huffed and puffed in their attempts to get a winner against a resilient Hamburg side.

The teenagers pace and trickery breathed new life into Arsenal and Emmanuel Eboue put Arsenal in front before Walcott set up Julio Baptistas late goal.

Wenger said: "At the moment Theo is in the kind of mental state where he knows he can affect a game.

"He has the right ingredients of pace and skill. I have involved him a lot and he has played a few games.

"I am watching him closely and he will soon get a start because we have so many games to play.

"Every time he plays he looks more mature. He is learning a lot from playing with a team that are always under pressure."

Arsenal can take great credit from the way they refused to throw in the towel on a night when it seemed they might slip towards the Champions League exit.

They were never at their best but managed to find a way to win after being frustrated so often at home this season.

Wenger added: "The important thing was we did not feel sorry for ourselves when we hit the bar and the post.

"We needed to be more direct and when we started to play like that I felt we would take over physically. This can help the players believe in themselves more now."

Hamburg were already eliminated before their trip to London but they took the lead in the third minute through Rafael van der Vaarts stunning goal.

Van Persie levelled soon after half time and Eboue and Baptista struck late on to send the Germans home empty-handed.

But Hamburg Thomas Doll believes his side can improve from their experience at the Emirates Stadium, even though they have now won just one of their last 22 matches.

Hamburg pushed Arsenal all the way despite having nothing to play for and Doll wants them to carry that into this weekends clash with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

"We are very disappointed because we played a good match tactically," he said.

"We are still fragile and there were some moments when we lost our organisation and composure.

"The players are disappointed but they can be satisfied that we put some pressure on them on them.

"Our first half performance can make us happy and it will help us get better."

[Source from; wldcup.com]