After suffering a stress fracture to his lower back, Clichy is set for a month on the sidelines. With his team-mate ruled out, Wenger will call on Gibbs to start at left-back against AZ Alkmaar in Wednesday's Champions League match as the Emirates Stadium.

And while the Arsenal manager admits he would have prefered to have eased Gibbs in to the first team more slowly, he remains confident that the 20-year old is ready to make the transition.

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

"(England manager Fabio) 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."

Wenger, though, declared: "I have no doubt about the quality of Gibbs, and I have said that many times."