Wenger's Faith In Young Carling Cup Team

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger can add Robin van Persie to his squad for tonight’s Carling Cup semi-final against local rivals Spurs.

The Dutch striker has made only two appearances since injuring a knee on international duty with Holland in October.

He suffered a setback in training last month which ruled him out of contention since Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Chelsea.

Van Persie is likely to start on the bench for the Spurs match, with Wenger wishing to keep faith with the bulk of the players who achieved a fine 3-2 quarter-final win against a full-strength Blackburn Rovers side at Ewood Park .

Arsenal are seeking to reach the final for the second successive year.

After returning from a loan spell at Burmingham City, Johan Djourou will make his first appearance of the season alongside his Switzerland international team-mate, Philippe Senderos.

And forward Theo Walcott has recovered from a virus.

“Robin van Persie is back in the squad,” Wenger said.

“He had a little setback coming back from his knee injury, it was a muscle problem. But the positive side of it is that he could forget about his knee and work on his fitness.

“Theo Walcott is available, while Johan Djourou and Philippe Senderos will play at the back. Apart from that, it will be the players who played in the last Carling Cup game. Basically, it will be a young side with one or two experienced players.”

Having used Jens Lehmann for the FA Cup third-round tie away to Burnleyt the weekend, when Arsenal won 2-0, Wenger will revert to Lukasz Fabianski in goal.

The young Pole has kept goal throughout Arsenal's Carling Cup campaign. And he is hoping to tak this opportunity to make an impact in front of the home fans in nwhat will be only his second appearance at the Emirates.

“It is a big, big game for me, the fans and for everybody who is a Gunner,” Fabianski said.

“I know that this is a London derby game and I spoke to Manuel Almunia, who saved a penalty against Spurs in the Premier League. He told me that if you save a penalty against Tottenham, then you are the biggest man in the world.”