I am interested to know what Arsene will do with the rest of the team, he often rests players who have played International football but given the importance of the game it could well be seen as somewhat of a risk. Andrey Arshavin for example has played plenty of minutes in Russia’s last two

The International break has been a welcomed tonic for Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal squad. While International football usually takes away key players away from our squad, this time round it has done the reverse. The two week break has allowed Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby time to recover and build up some fitness at London Colny. Three of the four players have been absolutely key to our season so far and Wenger will be wiping his brow with relief that those players have come back at the right time.

We may have experienced another striking crisis had Van Persie’s knee and Bendtner’s ankle problems been more serious than they eventually were, luckily both but more importantly Van Persie’s is not a problem and he is expected to start in the line up later this afternoon.

It has been a difficult time during the month of March for the team without picking up three points but at least we still remain unbeaten in the league in 2011. April could be the fresh start that the players need, especially with the return of some very important players.

Blackburn Rovers are our opponents and they are a different side to the one we faced earlier at Ewood Park. Managers and owners have come and gone during that time whilst their personnel will be much the same.

Arsene Wenger has told the press that Manuel Almunia will start the game between the sticks, and plenty of scrutiny will be on the Arsenal number 1, at least in squad number.

Almunia played in the game at Ewood Park, a game where he was targeted from every dead ball and even passes in their midfield was played back to their goalkeeper to hoof into our penalty box. I was very proud of Almunia on that day, he dealt with absolutely everything thrown at him and came through with flying colours. We have to hope we see that version of Almunia instead of the walk about version that we witnessed at the Hawthorns in our last outing.

I am interested to know what Arsene will do with the rest of the team, he often rests players who have played International football but given the importance of the game it could well be seen as somewhat of a risk. Andrey Arshavin for example has played plenty of minutes in Russia’s last two games whilst Theo Walcott should be fresh.

I expect the Theo Van Nasregas partnership to be reunited which is wonderful news but I would hazard a guess that if one player was to be rested then it could well be Jack Wilshere. I hope he is given the chance to rejoin his partnership in the engine room with Alex Song but with Diaby fresh, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Wenger use him, especially as he has the physical and height advantage against a side who are likely to use that to overcome us from set pieces.

What I would love to see is Samir Nasri get back amongst the goals, he was going through a hot streak earlier in the season but he has now stopped making as many runs into the box. I want to see the same twists and turns followed by the finish as we witnessed against Fulham.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

One to watch: Manuel Almunia

Although I expect the opposition goalkeeper to be the busier of the two, I have chosen to select Almunia as the one to watch. Playing in front of what is likely to be a nervy crowd and with his confidence low, Manuel Almunia will need to show great character to wipe away the memories of his last match and he must be positive in his play.

Mean Leans’s Match Prediction:

Arsenal 3 (Nasri, Cesc, Van Persie) Blackburn 0

I hope the Arsenal engine has been fine tuned over the last few days. Let us not let the Lancashire boys breathe from the first whistle. Let us get back to scoring goals and beating teams early. Three points is the only option today. Theo Van Nasregas we need you.

COME ON THE ARSENAL.