But now we will play Sheffield with a whole list of first team players missing: Thierry Henry (Achilles), Edu (hamstring), Ashley Cole (flu) and Sol Campbell (ankle) Justin Hoyte (ankle) are injured, while Patrick Vieira and Jens Lehmann are rested. It is also possible that either Kolo or Cygan will also be rested with Senderos given another chance.

On the plus side Freddie Ljungberg is back in the squad and Stuart Taylor will be on the bench after his loan spell at Leicester. The good news is that Dennis will play, the bad news is that he will not go to Bayern. It is also possible that Reyes will play, and he is now beginning to find the net again. Wenger admitted he had half-an-eye on the trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League next Tuesday.

 So with a mixture of youth and experience, no Edu, and no Vieira, Flamini and Fabregas will have to provide the engine against a team that are no pushover. It could be a tricky tie, but our youngsters have proven before that they can play well even against the best.

Finally fairplay to Neil Warnock who has come to Wenger’s defence over the "foreign players" controversy. He has foregone the chance to play mind games before the match, and has been most gracious about Arsene, Arsenal’s football, and Arsenal fans (perhaps he is killing us with kindness Ed). It’s a pity a certain scabrous asshole from the King’s Road couldn’t follow his lead. Apparently he is helping England by keeping Joe Cole, and Wayne Bridge on the bench. With friends like that the England team will not need any enemies.