SOCCER/Chelsea v Arsenal: Wenger acknowledged the left-back would not sign a deal immediately because it was "very difficult" before the May 17th Premier League hearing into Cole's meeting with Chelsea.

However, he expressed no regret at reporting Chelsea, even though that resulted - to his surprise - in Cole being charged.

In echoes of his taunt at Alex Ferguson that "everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife", Wenger damned Chelsea's conduct by saying yesterday: "You cannot accept that people just come under your window and talk to your wife every night, without asking what's happening there."

When it was put to him that Cole cannot be happy at being dragged in front of an inquiry, Wenger said: "But is that our fault or is it Chelsea's fault? Why could he be angry with us? What have we done wrong?"

Cole met Chelsea representatives in January after talks broke down with Arsenal over an extension to his existing deal, which has two more seasons to run, and the 24-year-old is widely expected to move this summer.

However, Wenger said: "I'm 100 per cent certain he will stay and sign a new contract." Wenger insisted it was "not true" that Arsenal had reneged on a pay offer to Cole, though he accepted the club had suffered for failing to agree terms last year via Cole's agent Jonathan Barnett.

Chelsea's financial muscle has changed the landscape of the Premiership and Wenger hopes they are not able to attract top players from rival clubs.

"We try to defend our case and we want to keep our best players," he said. "English football will only be interesting if everybody has a good chance to compete for the championship. With only one you will be bored."

Arsenal will be without Thierry Henry while Sol Campbell is in the squad but seems unlikely to start.

Cole's defence against a Premier League inquiry into allegations of an illegal approach by the Arsenal player to Chelsea will be that the Premier League's rules constitute a restraint of trade.

His stance carries an implicit threat to seek redress in the courts, a move that would take the "tapping-up" into extra-time and could potentially force the league to rewrite its rulebook. Submissions have been made by all parties involved in the Premier League hearing to be held on May 17th and 18th: Cole, Chelsea and their manager Jose Mourinho.

Cole's deposition, which also hotly contests Chelsea's insistence that it was he and his agent Jonathan Barnett who arranged the meeting, could have wide repercussions for existing Premier League rules.

As the independent panel's brief is solely to determine whether a breach of Premier League rules has occurred, it is hard to see how Cole's restraint of trade defence could be successful. But league officials will be concerned that next month's hearing could be merely a prelude to the legality of their rules being tested in court.

The primary role of the hearing panel will be to rule on who arranged the meeting at the Royal Park Hotel on January 27th, and it has the power to do so on the balance of probabilities.

Whatever the outcome, the timing of the hearing cannot be entirely satisfactory for Cole and his manager Arsene Wenger. The hearing is due to end just three days prior to the champions' FA Cup final trip to Cardiff, where they face Manchester United.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have been boosted by the return to fitness of influential skipper John Terry for tonight's game. Terry was hurt in the closing stages of their 6-5 aggregate Champions League quarter-final success over Bayern Munich in Germany. But he has recovered sufficiently from the 'dead leg' to be named in Jose Mourinho's squad.

Dutch winger Arjen Robben is still not available for selection as he continues to recover from the ankle ligament injury he sustained on international duty.

Mourinho, who yesterday ended his association with the Portuguese television station SIC to avoid the "abuse" of his comments by the media, is also without long-term absentees - Scott Parker (broken foot), Paulo Ferreira (broken foot) and Wayne Bridge (broken ankle).

Arsenal will be without Thierry Henry while Sol Campbell is in the squad but seems unlikely to start.