Wenger denied that Germany striker Lukas Podolski is close to joining the Gunners in an £11million deal having undergone a medical. But the Arsenal boss admitted he is ready to scour the transfer market in his quest for high-quality additions to the squad. "Quantity-wise we will not do a lot. Quality-wise certainly, and we will take a gamble if we find top, top quality of course," he said. "The number of the squad is 25. We have many players out on loan and we have not had Jack Wilshere or Abou Diaby for the whole season. "These players will be back and that means number and quality-wise we are strong because we are now in the position we are in without these players."
Arsenal are seeking their seventh successive Barclays Premier League win when they host Aston Villa. They supplanted Tottenham in third place with their 1-0 victory over Everton on Wednesday night and Wenger believes the battle for Champions League football is intensifying. "Third is better than fourth, but if you have no choice, you take fourth and the opportunity. Let's see how it goes now," he said. "I believe Newcastle are still in the fight, as are Tottenham and Chelsea. Liverpool are maybe too far off, but you never know." Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby will not be risked for the game.
Diaby has recovered from a hamstring injury, but Wenger will not name him in his squad until next week. Wenger will use an unchanged squad from the group which won at Everton, with Per Mertesacker (ankle) and midfielder Jack Wilshere (ankle) still sidelined. Meanwhile, Alex McLeish insists it is unfair to place all the goalscoring burden on Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor in Darren Bent's absence.
Agbonlahor has a greater responsibility on his shoulders now that Bent is sidelined for the remainder of the campaign with ankle ligament damage. But McLeish believes it is vital Villa look to find the net from all areas of the team as they look to repeat last season's Barclays Premier League win at the Emirates Stadium. McLeish said: "You can't keep singling out one guy in Gabby to get you the goals. We need other guys to score as well.
"We need to score from set pieces, we've not done that very well this season. "We need goals from the wide men, we need goals from midfield. Stan (Stiliyan Petrov) has scored five, Charles N'Zogbia has got a couple, Gabby six or seven. "We are looking for Gabby to get amongst the goals - but he is also a provider and his assists this season been excellent as well." Winger Charles N'Zogbia is battling to overcome a tweaked knee ligament in time to face the Gunners. He suffered the setback during training on Thursday and his fitness will be assessed. Striker Andreas Weimann is pushing for a start after scoring the winner against Fulham a fortnight ago.
If N'Zogbia is ruled out, Weimann could play up front with Agbonlahor reverting to the wide role he has been employed in before this season. Bent, defender Richard Dunne (shoulder) and midfielder Fabian Delph (ankle) remain long-term absentees while utility player Ciaran Clark is still recovering from a knee problem.
Arsenal V Aston Villa - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.
Source: PA
