Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will have little choice but to stick to the majority of the players, who have toiled through the festive season, for the FA Cup third round tie against Hull City, even if some of his stars are on their comeback trail.
Wenger had to watch from the sidelines as Arsenal again self-imploded to hand victory to Southampton in the English Premier League on New Year's Day, and with his stars, who include Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Mathieu Flamini, Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck all injured, the manager will have little choice but to go with a similar squad makeup to the one he named against the Saints three days ago.
While Ramsey, Arteta and Wilshere are definitely out of the game, there is a slight, and it is slight, chance of Flamini, Ozil and/or Welbeck making it to the squad, but Wenger did not sound too optimistic, with the manager also set to be without Olivier Giroud, who is suspended, and Yaya Sanogo, who has a hamstring problem.
"Honestly I have to check who is available and who is not," said Wenger to the club's official website. "We will see. I cannot rotate too much either because we need stability.
"Who comes back? We have the 18 players [who played against Southampton] -- nobody else will play."
Wenger confirmed Wojciech Szczesny would be rested/dropped, after his shambolic performance against Southampton, with David Ospina in line for a start. Emiliano Martinez will also be in the squad, and the Argentine will hope to be selected ahead of the Colombian, even if the latter is the favourite.
"The two keepers, Ospina and Martinez, will come in," added Wenger.
"At the moment, we have a decimated squad, so that means everybody will have to contribute very well and a lot."
The game against Hull City will be a rematch of the FA Cup final from last season, when Arsenal came from behind to lift their first major title in nine years.
Being the defending champions, the last thing Wenger will want is to be knocked out at the first time of asking, even if injuries have, and continues to play a major role in the team's performances this season.
"We have suffered," said Per Mertesacker. "We have been through that all season.
"At one point, you want to be consistent in your lineup, especially the back four. We have to find that. It's difficult for us at the moment but what keeps us going is our spirit."
Update:
Confirmed lineups: Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Rosicky, Cazorla, Walcott, Campbell, Alexis.
Hull City: Harper, Figueroa, Davies, Huddlestone, Brady, Maguire, McShane, Sagbo, Ince, Aluko, Quinn.
