UEFA Champions League
Quarter-Finals, Second Leg
Highbury
06 April 2004

The Gunners hold a slight advantage after scoring an away goal in the 1-1 first-leg draw at Stamford Bridge and know that a 0-0 scoreline at Highbury will secure their progress.

But Wenger is adamant that the best way to reach the semi-finals is to play for a victory, not least because Arsenal go into the game on the back of a rare defeat against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final last Saturday.

"It's still very open although we have a slight edge because if it finishes 0-0 we will qualify," Wenger said.

"But we will try to go for the win because I don't think you can play for a goalless draw at home. We have a good opportunity from playing at Highbury and statistically our chances are good.

"Even so, we know it has to be a disciplined performance against Chelsea and we won't open the door at the back.

"After our defeat to Manchester United we want to pick ourselves up and show we can respond to that disappointment. When you lose a game there is only one way to respond and that is to win the next game," the Frenchman added.

"We have every reason to believe we can bounce back because of the history of this team and the belief and spirit in the squad. We have had some tough games, but we have statistics that prove we are still in a good way physically."

Wenger has been boosted by the fact that Fredrik Ljungberg, Jose Antonio Reyes and Ashley Cole have all been named in the squad for the Chelsea clash.

Ljungberg broke two bones in his hand during the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, but may play with a pain-killing injection, while Reyes faces a late fitness test on the knee injury he sustained at the weekend.

Cole is also in contention after returning to light training following his knee injury that has kept him out of the Arsenal side for the past two games.

Meanwhile, Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira knows that he faces a tough time in midfield against Chelsea - just as he did against Manchester United on Saturday.

"Against Manchester United it was pretty busy in midfield because they played five across the middle and made it tough for us to play," he admitted.

"We didn't really cope well with it, but we talked about it after the match and we are not worried about it now because we feel we are good enough to deal with the situation in the future.

"We expect Chelsea will also be compact in midfield and not give us any space to play, but they have to come at us a little bit because if it finishes in a 0-0 draw then we will go through."

Arsenal go into the game also knowing that they have not lost to Chelsea in their last 17 competitive games.

Arsenal v Chelsea is live on ITV1 tonight. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.