John Terry should step in to partner Rio Ferdinand at international level, but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is facing rather tougher selection problems than Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Kolo Toure is already out of the Villa game as he serves the last part of a three-game ban while Philippe Senderos remains sidelined by a knee injury.

England Under-21 full-back Justin Hoyte is therefore on standby to play as an emergency centre-back alongside Pascal Cygan at Villa Park.

The 20-year-old played there against Norwich earlier this season when Cygan was injured just before kick-off and the Gunners won 4-1.

However, they should face a more difficult test at Villa Park.

Wenger admitted: “It is demoralising but we have our pride to do as well as we can. We have a great spirit and this is a great occasion to show it.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves for too long. When you want to be at the top level, you have to fight when it goes well and also when it doesn’t go well.

“This team has character and now we must show it. We have gone through difficult periods like this before and it’s part of our job.

“It’s not just an easy life. It’s sometimes hard. It’s up to us to pick the players up and make them realise that they haven’t lost their qualities.”