Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has recalled Sol Campbell to the heart of his defence after Philippe Senderos was ruled out of tomorrow night's Champions League semi-final second leg against Villarreal in Spain.
Wenger said: "Senderos is out, so Sol will start the game. It is a little gamble because he has not had the number of games you would wish him to have, but physically he looks all right."
Wenger expects the results of medical scans to show ligament damage which will keep Senderos out for around three weeks.
Campbell has started just one match since being substituted at half-time against West Ham at the start of February, following a performance which left many questioning his form ahead of the World Cup.
He is available again after recovering from an operation on a broken nose and will be expected to slot in as a direct replacement for Senderos alongside Kolo Toure in central defence.
Left-back Gael Clichy is also included in the travelling party, available again after suffering a stress fracture of his foot while on Under-21 duty for France against England in November.
Captain Thierry Henry started on the bench at the weekend, along with Cesc Fabregas, but both are in contention to start, while midfielders Freddie Ljungberg and Alexander Hleb should also come back into the equation after being rested.
Jose Antonio Reyes is available again following a one-match European ban, but Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor is cup-tied. England full-back Ashley Cole (ankle) is still not yet fully match fit.
Arsenal squad (from): Lehmann, Djourou, Eboue, Campbell, Toure, Clichy, Flamini, Pires, Gilberto, Diaby, Fabregas, Reyes, Ljungberg, Hleb, Van Persie, Henry, Song, Walcott, Almunia.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)