Given his number of injured defenders, one could have excused Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger for insisting, on arrival here, that the four available backs for tonight's Group C game with Panathinaikos be wrapped in cotton wool and carried through customs rather than allowing them to risk the potentially hazardous airline steps.

It is not that Wenger is lacking in replacements for Tony Adams, Sol Campbell and Gilles Grimandi, who were not even fit enough to make it up the steps at Luton, nor the doubtful Lauren, who mounted them gingerly. It is just that none of them has much match-fitness.

Thus Matthew Upson was not entrusted with a starting place against Bolton on Saturday because he had not completed even a full reserve game this season.

Wenger appears worried that the long-term understudy might still fluff his lines or dry completely in the hostile atmosphere of the 17,000-capacity Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium.

Upson is 99.9 per cent certain to play because Igors Stepanovs also has no recent form and like Oleg Luzhny, dubbed Noleg Luzhny by one commentator after his ponderous display against Bolton, he lacks the turn of foot Wenger says will be vital tonight. Perhaps trying to convince himself, Wenger says of Upson: "Physically and technically he is everything you look for in a defender."

As you wonder what could offset such a complimentary assessment, Wenger supplies it. "Matthew has had so many injuries that they are in his mind. He is a worrier and he needs to play for the next two months without injury for him to rid himself of that."

Arsenal's unsubtle defence, in both senses of the word, is at the heart of their inconsistency this season, which has seen the drawbridge at Fortress Highbury fall so low that they boast only wins against Leicester and, highly fortunately, Schalke last week.

Wenger says: "In the Champions League you need to get one result away, but this match will be very difficult because Panathinaikos know that if they win they could be through."

The Greeks have won their opening games, away to Germany's Schalke 04 and at home to Spain's Real Mallorca, both by 2-0.

Wenger adds: "We have to defend much better than on Saturday and not just at the back, though we will not be playing for a draw. That would be too dangerous in the atmosphere we will face."

PANATHINAIKOS (possible 4-2-3-1): Nikopolidis; Fyssas, Kyrgiakos, Henriksen, Seitaridis; Basinas, Paulo Sousa; Vlaovic, Karagounis, Michaelsen; Olisadebe.

ARSENAL (probable, 4-4-2): Seaman; Lauren, Keown, Upson, Cole; Ljungberg, Vieira, Parlour, Pires; Henry, Wiltord.