Kanu likely to start

Arsene Wenger has called on his Arsenal troops to put their Barcelona nightmare behind them and earn the chance of a revenge …

Arsene Wenger has called on his Arsenal troops to put their Barcelona nightmare behind them and earn the chance of a revenge meeting with the Spanish giants by clinching qualification for the second round of the Champions League.

The Highbury boss, hoping for a Wembley win over Fiorentina tonight, is convinced his side have the quality to make it third time lucky against the Barcelona side that buried them 4-2 at Wembley just a week ago.

They cannot meet again until the quarter-final knockout stage in March and Wenger admits Arsenal still have their work cut out to overcome Fiorentina for the win that would still guarantee a place in the second round groups phase

But he insisted: "I would love to play Barcelona again because we have many regrets from the two matches against them this season."

READ MORE

Wenger admitted, though: "We must defend much better as a team against Fiorentina than we did against Barcelona - or we will be out.

"Our destiny is in our own hands and we are positive about that. The players are all aware of what needs to be done and we are ready to go for it."

Wenger knows that Fiorentina will still present a formidable hurdle at Wembley tonight - despite the current upheaval at the Italian Serie A club.

The club's 60-year-old coach Giovanni Trapattoni offered his resignation after a 2-0 defeat by lowly Piacenza on Saturday sent them slipping deeper into the bottom half of the table.

Yugoslav striker Predrag Mijatovic is out with a thigh injury while midfielder Christian Amoroso and key defenders Pasquale Padalino and Moreno Torricelli are also on the casualty list.

Nwankwo Kanu looks certain to start for Arsenal again alongside Dennis Bergkamp, who was rested at Stamford Bridge after a slight hamstring strain.

Wenger also intimated that all his four World Cup strikers would again play a part tonight, stating: "It is not always the one that starts who makes the difference in the end."