Soccer: At least Napoleon set off for Moscow with a full squad. Arsene Wenger's band of men were heavily depleted even before they they made the journey yesterday.

Contrary to Napoleon's experience, hunger, fatigue and desertion have nothing to do with Arsenal's problems. Instead injuries, bereavement, fear of flying and summer transfer dealings have exposed a lack of depth in their squad.

Patrick Vieira, Sol Campbell, Freddie Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp are absent and Arsenal's bench will show how stretched their resources have become for a vital game against Lokomotiv Moscow that Wenger feels his team "need to get something from" after losing 3-0 at home to Internazionale in their opening Champions League match.

"Sometimes in football it is strange because you can go into the first couple of weeks in September with no injuries and then suddenly you get three or four of them. It is never predictable," Wenger said yesterday.

Consolation for Wenger was that defenders Ashley Cole and Martin Keown have both been passed fit following knocks against Newcastle last Friday night. Wenger has been forced to call up two teenagers, Justin Hoyte and David Bentley, without a first-team start and there will not be a midfielder among the substitutes. It indicates how hard Arsenal could be hit if six of their players are suspended for their behaviour at Old Trafford.

Vieira and Ljungberg are injured and Campbell is not ready after his father's death. Wenger is also suffering from the financial restrictions that meant he did not sign an outfield player of note during the close season and contributed to him sending seven fringe figures, including Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Jermaine Pennant, Francis Jeffers and Moritz Volz, out on loan.

A desire to give certain players first-team experience was also behind Wenger's loan policy. He has no regrets but will consider recalling Pennant or Volz in the event of more injuries. Van Bronckhorst and Jeffers cannot be brought back from season-long loans.

"If we have some more injured players I will be tempted (to recall people)," he said. "I still think the 11 who will start tomorrow would have started even if I had not put them out on loan."

Wenger will ask Edu to partner Gilberto Silva in Vieira's absence and will hope his team do not miss Campbell and Vieira.

Having beaten Newcastle without Cole and Keown, when Vieira lasted only 26 minutes, Arsenal face another key test in inhospitable surrounds.

After Inter, defeat is unthinkable.

Nwankwo Kanu will be the only substitute with a significant reputation and his contribution over the past two seasons has been negligible.

Hoyte, an 18-year-old defender, and Bentley, a 19-year-old striker, made a substitute appearance each last season. Also among the replacements will be the little-used Stathis Tavlaridis, Jeremie Aliadiere and Pascal Cygan.

Wenger must get used to coping without important players once the disciplinary fall-out from the visit to Manchester United has settled. But for the time being he is more concerned with the Inter humiliation.

"We have to make things right again after our disastrous start," he said, and he tried to look on the bright side with regard the injuries. My players have always responded well when their backs are to the wall. Overall our away record is quite good in Europe in recent years. It's our home form which has let us down."

Arsenal have, though, lost on their previous two visits to Moscow, conceding seven goals, and have lost on all four of their visits to the former Soviet Union. They could do with finding something approaching the form they showed at Roma and PSV Eindhoven last season against a Lokomotiv side who has lost five of six home games in the Champions League last term.

Thierry Henry knows Arsenal must improve in Europe. "We need to learn how to be strong in important moments," he said. "Last season, (when) we didn't look like scoring, we didn't. When we looked like we were going to concede a goal, we did.

"Look at teams like Juventus and Milan. This doesn't happen with them. That's the difference with the teams that progress and the teams that don't."

Lokomotiv Moscow, coming off an unconvincing 2-0 home win over Russian Premier league strugglers Spartak Alania Vladikavkaz, will be without suspended South African midfielder Jacob Lekgetho and Costa Rican striker Winston Parks, who is out for the rest of the year following a knee surgery. Russian striker Maxim Buznikin has also been ruled out of the match in Moscow after picking up a leg injury in training.

LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW (probable): S Ovchinnikov; G Nizhegorodov, S Ignashevich, O Pashinin, V Yevseyev, D Sennikov; M Izmailov, V Maminov, D Loskov, D Khokhlov; M Ashvetia.

ARSENAL (probable): J Lehmann; Lauren, K Toure, M Keown, A Cole; R Parlour, Gilberto, Edu, R Pires; S Wiltord, T Henry.

Referee: JW Wegereef (Netherlands).