Arsenal-Aston Villa Preview

Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2010 by PA

LONDON (SE) - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will recall William Gallas to the side for Wednesday night’s trip to Aston Villa after revealing the defender has been close to serious injury several times this season.

Gallas and defensive partner Thomas Vermaelen have been the only ever-present members of the Arsenal squad in the Premier League this season, starting all 22 games.

France international Gallas sat out the 3-1 FA Cup defeat to Stoke, a decision which Wenger admits backfired in terms of the result but was crucial in the long-term future of his side.

Wenger said: “You have to rotate. You cannot always play with the same XI until the end of the season \2013 that does not work.

“Gallas has played all the Premier League games. Once you are in a routine, winning keeps the confidence high.

“Touch wood, until now he has been clear of injuries but we have played him on the limit a few times where we did not know before the game how long he would last.

“He always manages to get through the 90 minutes but you can never be too sure and the short break would have done him some good.”

Wenger has also reserved praise for veteran Sol Campbell who made his second debut for the club on Sunday against Stoke \2013 at the age of 35.

Campbell is expected to sit on the bench for the trip to Villa Park but Wenger admits he has given him food for thought.

Wenger added: “Sol has a future in the Premier League. He has motivation now and has been training very well \2013 his reward was to be back in the side.

“He may have suffered from fatigue in the final 20 minutes against Stoke but it is hardly surprising considering how long he has been away from the top level.”

Villa boss Martin O’Neill has challenged one of his own defenders to compete for a starting place after Curtis Davies made his own long-awaited comeback on the weekend.

Davies came on as a substitute in the win over League One Brighton after a five-month absence with a shoulder injury.

O’Neill hopes his presence can increase the competition among his rival centre-halves Richard Dunne, James Collins and Carlos Cueller.

Davies has been linked with a loan move away from the Midlands to Celtic but O’Neill has been quick to scotch any rumours.

O’Neill said: “Curtis went out of the side at the time through injury and it was a long injury.

“Obviously knowing the concerns in pre-season when his shoulder kept popping out we knew we would have to try and do something about it.

“Curtis is a very good footballer and we are glad he is back in the fold. It is now up to him to put in the performances and try and reclaim his place in the team.”

Left-back Stephen Warnock is battling to overcome a shin injury in time for the visit of Arsenal after limping out of the 3-2 FA Cup win against Brighton.

O’Neill added: “Warnock has been sore for a little while. He wanted to go again against Brighton but he has played a lot of games for us.

“Stephen is a great lad who would play when other players would not risk it as much so we will have to have a look at things.

“He will try and rest up and we will see how he is for Wednesday.”

O’Neill is also sweating on the fitness of midfielder Stilyan Petrov, striker Emile Heskey and captain Dunne after they all sat out the weekend.