It's all grim oop north but Arsenal can do it.

Tomorrow's game may not be entirely dissimilar to that on Wednesday night. When Arsene says, "Teams reflect the character of their managers and yes, of course, Blackburn have the aggression of Mark Hughes" you hardly have to work at Bletchley Park to decode the meaning. In our two visits to Ewood Park last year, Blackburn tried to outmuscle us, and not without a degree of success. I particularly remember Tuguay putting in several vicious challenges before being withdrawn in our ill-fated FA Cup replay.

But in the league match in Blackburn, Arsenal triumphed against the odds. We did so, after Gilberto was sent off, through superb passing and possession football from a midfield triumvirate of Cesc, Hleb and Rosicky. However, it also took a wonder goal from the Barca Boy to secure the win and another Arsenal player will need to conjure something up tomorrow if we want anything from the game.

Blackburn haven't a great deal to them, but they have enough to force a combative victory if, as predicted, conditions are difficult. They have possibly the biggest player in the Premier League in the form of the centre-back Samba who has impressed me with his sheer power on the occasions I've seen him. Striker Matt Derbyshire is a real prospect and should be knocking on the doors of the top four and the England squad soon. Friedel is a very decent keeper, and, regardless of his personality, David Bentley could cause us troubles if Gael isn't careful.

As for us, the wafer-thin nature of our squad is already apparent, with both our starting 'wingers' - Eboue and Rosicky - ruled out. What that means for the flanks is anyone's guess. Hleb on the left? Flamini on the right? Will Walcott be thrown his first start so early? Will Diaby be forced to play on the left yet again? All the injuries have shown is that we desperately need a new left winger if we are to have any depth to our squad, especially if Rosciky keeps on picking these niggling injuries.

Eduardo may be given his first start, but I would hope to see Bendtner feature: we could use his power. RvP has a very decent goalscoring record against Blackburn and there's no reason why it shouldn't continue. Despite the recent form of Hleb, it would be a shame to waste Robin by continually isolating him as we seem to be doing at present, so maybe a more traditional 442 would be an idea.

The game is a good early test in the season for the team. The North-West 'graveyard', a physical team, and bad weather should give an indication of what the squad is made of. If we're serious about the title we should win the game; a draw would be a fair result but it's imperative that we maintain a good start to the season.