The Swiss centre back has recently returned from the calf, back and foot injuries which blighted his first season at the club. He captained the reserves against Derby, and looked good alongside Sol Campbell against Coventry on Monday.

By all accounts, he's both comfortable on the ball and solid defensively. But Wenger says it'll be 3 months before he's considered for a first team match, "He has not played for a year. When he has absorbed that first three months, we can speak again. Already this season you can see he is getting better and better. He is physically much stronger but he needs games."

So, don't expect Cygan to be shunted down the pecking order for a while. And if one of him, Sol, and Toure becomes unavailable we may well see Justin Hoyte, who had an impressive out-of-position debut there against Norwich, used again.

We presume that "first team matches" does not include the League Cup tie at Man City.