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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has not yet decided whether to gamble on captain Cesc Fabregas for the Champions League Group H clash against Shakhtar Donetsk at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners skipper has not featured since September 18 after suffering a hamstring problem when scoring at Sunderland as the ball was kicked against his leg before ballooning over the keeper.

Without their talismanic midfielder, Arsenal lost successive Barclays Premier League matches before the international break, although they returned to winning ways against Birmingham at the weekend.

In Europe, however, Wenger's men maintained their 100% start following a hard-earned 3-1 victory at Partizan Belgrade.

With Shakhtar - who signed Croatia forward Eduardo from Arsenal in the summer - also having picked up six points, Tuesday night's encounter could all but guarantee one side safe passage into the knockout stage.

Wenger, though, will give plenty of thought as to whether he should throw Fabregas straight back into the action.

"Cesc has prepared well. He had a little setback, but got over the hurdle and is ready to play at full fitness, but whether I start him or not, I do not know yet," Wenger said.

"It will be whether I take a gamble or not, because he has been out for a long time.

"But physically he is ready and fit - and wanting to play."

Wenger continued: "You know his influence on our team, he is our leader, our passer, he has a good level of assists and a good goalscoring record.

"Ideally you want him in the team."

Shakhtar are yet to concede a goal in Europe and domestically have recorded 15 wins out of 17 games. Wenger is certainly not taking the Ukrainians' challenge lightly.

"In this group until now you had 12 points at stake - six went to Shakhtar, six went to Arsenal. That means what is at stake is the qualifying and also the top of the group, which is why it is a very important game.

"It is a key game because it gives us an opportunity to basically think we have qualified."

Wenger added: "Shakhtar are on a good winning run, they are dominating their league, they have just won 3-0 at Braga.

"We are on our toes. We know that only a great performance will win us the game."

Eduardo ended a three-year stay at Arsenal when he moved to Donetsk during the summer in a £6million deal, having found himself pushed down the pecking order following the free transfer signing of Marouane Chamakh.

Wenger admits it was somewhat emotional to see the Brazil-born forward leave, the 27-year-old having fought his way back to full fitness following an horrific broken leg and dislocated ankle at Birmingham in February 2008.

"I will be happy and sad to see Eduardo," said the Arsenal manager.

"Happy because he was always a fantastic boy with a fantastic mentality, he just had the class of an Arsenal player, and sad because I worked very hard to get him here and he left with the feeling that he could not completely fulfil the promise he had in the first season.

"That was basically down to the fact he was injured for a long time and somebody else moved in front of him."

England youngster Jack Wilshere is available despite his red card against Birmingham on Saturday, which will see the 18-year-old midfielder serve a three-match domestic ban. Much has been made of the incident, particularly given Wenger's personal crusade against over-the-top challenges.

The Arsenal manager, though, hopes to now draw a line under the issue.

"Jack quickly acknowledged that he made a mistake and deserved a red card and what more can you say?" Wenger stressed.

"When a player comes out and sees his mistake, there is always a good chance to progress and improve.

"For me, the big players have one common thing together, which is a good assessment of their performance.

"Sometimes at that age you can think you are always right. It was quite a surprise that so soon after the game he came out like that."

Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott are also included in the squad as Arsenal's injuries, offensively at least, begin to ease.

However, Wenger rejected suggestions Holland striker Robin van Persie could be back from an ankle problem to play during the next international break.

"I think the Dutch coach has a good sense of humour. There is no chance," the Arsenal manager said.

One man leaving Emirates Stadium was goalkeeper Vito Mannone who has joined Hull on loan until January.