Arsène Wenger thinks Arsenal's Lukasz Fabianski will be 'great keeper'

Arsène Wenger has challenged stand-in goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to make the most of his next chance as Arsenal's No1 after helping his side beat 10-man Partizan Belgrade 3-1 – an opportunity which may come at Chelsea on Sunday.

The often-criticised Pole impressed as he stood in for the injured Manuel Almunia for last night's Champions League Group H clash, saving a late penalty and then capping a confident display with another acrobatic stop from Ivica Iliev in stoppage time.

Wenger has long championed Fabianski's cause, despite a number of blunders, and felt last night's display proved his faith justified. "Fabianski had a good game, we have seen the player who we see in training. He had a faultless game," he said. "I know it is in him. He got it out in the game and hopefully that will give him the needed belief and confidence. I am confident he will come out as a great keeper, I have always said that. We have to keep confidence in him and he needs to gain experience from games like this."

Fabianski could be in line to play against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, should Almunia - himself under the spotlight following some errors in the 3-2 home defeat by West Bromwich Albion – not recover from an elbow problem. Wenger said: "At the moment Almunia is injured, we will have to see how his injury goes, but at the moment it is too early to say."

Wenger felt his side, missing key men like captain Cesc Fábregas, Theo Walcott, Robin van Persie and Thomas Vermaelen, coped well with the early pressure from Belgrade. "Partizan gave us the game we expected – full of commitment, full of power on every break," he said. "We had a lot of the ball and created a lot of chances. However, we could not kill the game off and then we were always under threat."

Partizan have now lost both of their matches, and look set for a battle with Braga for the Europa League place. Their coach, Alexandar Stanojevic, said: "We have to admit that Arsenal were a better team, so we have to go on."

Source: Press Association, The Guardian on 29 Sep 10