Robert Pires believes Arsenal’s young guns have proved they are ready to face Chelsea in Sunday’s Premiership showdown at Highbury.
A combination of injuries and suspension forced Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to start Tuesday’s Champions League crunch against Rosenborg with a trio of youngsters — Justin Hoyte at right back and Cesc Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini in midfield.
By the time the match had finished, Wenger had six under-21s on the pitch, but it hardly mattered as the Norwegian champions were swept aside 5-1 with a performance that augured well for Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash.
”We saw that we could count on the young players for Sunday,” Pires said.
”What I notice about them is their ability to forget about what’s at stake, the pressure, the fact they are playing in the Champions League.
”We were missing two big players in Vieira and Lauren but we showed that we’ve got quality through the squad — even if that is one of the things we have been criticised for.
”We have finished our group unbeaten — if that’s a crisis, it’s not such a bad one to have gone through.
”It’s true that November was a tough month for us, but the win over Birmingham did us a lot of good.
”We got back a lot of our freshness and efficiency. We knew this would be a big, big week for us, maybe not critical because the Premiership is a long battle and there is still a long way to go, but really important all the same.
”Everyone is saying Chelsea are going to be champions. We just let them get on with it and concentrate on doing our own job.”
Arsenal have not lost at Highbury since Chelsea beat them in the second leg of last season’s Champions League quarterfinal.
”It’s true that the last time we lost at Highbury was against Chelsea, but I think talking about revenge is a bit over the top. We want to win but I hope it will be a good contest.” — Sapa-AFP