Wenger: Gibbs will thrive

Arsene Wenger is confident youngster Kieran Gibbs will thrive in an unexpected run at left-back in the first team.

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Arsene Wenger thinks Kieran Gibbs is ready to take his chance.

With Gael Clichy set for an extended spell on the sidelines following a stress fracture to his lower back, 20-year-old Gibbs will start against AZ Alkmaar in tonight's Champions League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

It is a role familiar to the England Under-21 international, whom national team manager Fabio Capello has admitted is in his thoughts ahead of next summer's World Cup finals.

Despite the disappointment of a high-profile slip which proved costly during the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester United, for the most part Gibbs has not looked out of place when filling in for Clichy - the Frenchman having been missing for the closing months of last season, also because of a back problem.

While Wenger would have preferred to give Gibbs more experience in smaller doses, such as the Carling Cup, the Arsenal manager believes the young defender is more than ready to make the step up.

"I was very comfortable to have a solution to rest Clichy when it was needed and play Gibbs," he said. "Now suddenly there is a huge stress on Gibbs to play in every game.

"Capello and England will be happy because they want him to play of course, but it is still a blow for us to lose Clichy. I have no doubt about the quality of Gibbs, and I have said that many times.''

The Gunners kept up the pressure on leaders Chelsea and Manchester United with a 3-0 win over north-London rivals Tottenham, and could move into the last 16 of Europe's elite club competition with victory tonight.