Brushing off the knock-on and hanging on to the lifeline

Easier said than done, especially considering the daily bulletins from Arsène Wenger that do not make for good reading at all. At this rate, we will have no one fit enough to face Barcelona by the sounds of it!

But Chelsea's victory over the league leaders the other night was the perfect boost that we needed following last weekend's dark page. A page that has apparently been turned over following our cup replay thrashing of Leyton Orient, according to the boss, anyway.

Wenger's post-match interviews included his usual talk of showing signs of mental strength, bouncing backing style, blah blah. Blah.

I'm sorry boss, but I've got to disagree there. This was nothing but an expected outcome against a team that we should have put away long before the replay had come about, regardless of cup final win or not. To claim that the win at home against a League 1 side following a horror show at Wembley as a sign of mental strength borders on the ridiculous, if we are to be perfectly honest with ourselves.

There were positives from the performance and the victory, of course, including a very satisfactory debut from Conor Henderson and another largely solid performance from Ignasi Miquel in the centre of defence. But my main plus from the encounter came in the form of goals for Marouane Chamakh and Nicklas Bendtner, or goals, goals, and more goals, in the Dane's case. This was a game where scoring goals was definitely on the menu, and, although I wouldn't go as far as saying that the two strikers had finally found their footballing level against the O's as one online critic had harshly put it, this is a welcome boost with Robin van Persie out for God only knows how long. And let's face it, if Gaël Clichy can score against them, then surely Chamakh and Bendtner can too!

The return of the pair to goalscoring form will be crucial if we are to keep up in the race for the title as Robin goes through his 637th round of rehabilitation, and if we are to stand any chance at Camp Nou next week, and so this was a good outing for both of them.

Back to league matters, and a testing home clash in the shape of improved Sunderland to come. We had craved that United drop points from their two away clashes over this week, and they duly delivered having allowed Chelsea to come from behind to clinch a 2-1 win. But as we know, expecting favours from teams is one thing, and going on to take advantage of that favour is completely another. And so the Sunderland match is a real acid test in the context of our whole season, where we have the chance to bring ourselves to within a point of Fergie's men prior to their similarly testing trip to Anfield.

With resources stretched to the limit, it will be upto the likes of Bendtner and Chamakh, as well as the recently fruitless Samir Nasri, to ensure that the absences of Cesc, van Persie and Theo Walcott will not be felt in what should be a winnable fixture anyway, regardless of the absentees, and regardless of the refreshing progress made by Steve Bruce and his men this season.

A potential welcome back to Aaron Ramsey awaits too, following his lengthy period out of action and loan spells at Forest and Cardiff to feel his way back into competitive football. He has been greatly missed, and his chomping at the bit as well as bundles of talent will hopefully play a big part in our season.

It's now upto the manager and rest of the squad to show some real strength-in-depth, some real character to get our season back on track following last week's hammer blow.

Tuesday night was a big result for Chelsea, but a bigger one for Arsenal. And it's up to them to make sure of exactly that, starting tomorrow.

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