Aston Villa v ArsenalLAURENT KOSCIELNY has no problem helping ease Arsenal's injury crisis by playing at full back, and has revealed that his friends have grown so accustomed to seeing him in the position that they have started calling him the "white Cafu".
Arsenal head to Aston Villa without any recognised full backs after a spate of injuries denied Arsene Wenger the services of Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos, Bacary Sagna and Carl Jenkinson.
Johan Djourou played at right back in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City, but he had to come off in the second half after suffering a groin injury and will now be out for three weeks.
Wenger heads to Villa Park with Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sebastien Squillaci and Ignasi Miquel as his only fit defenders – all of whom are primarily centre backs.
Koscielny has filled in at right back with varying degrees of success this season, but he insists he is happy playing there.
“My mates tease me calling me the white Cafu,” Koscielny said. “It’s a position I knew as I started as a professional in France at left full back.
“At the time, I was playing with Guingamp in the second division and I was very young. Obviously, it is not my favourite position, but I am happy to help the team and do my best there.”
Koscielny, a regular for most of this season, has played a big role in helping Arsenal turn around their campaign after a wretched start.
The north London club won only one of their opening five games before a recent good run of form – the defeat at City aside – has put them back in the hunt for Champions League qualification.
The game that sparked Arsenal’s downward spiral came in February last season when, despite being overwhelming favourites, they lost to Birmingham in the League Cup final.
Koscielny was responsible in a large way for the defeat.
The Frenchman’s embarrassing mix-up with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny allowed Obafemi Martins to tap home a simple winner with just two minutes left.
Koscielny admits it is hard to keep the gaffe out of his mind.
“I do think about it sometimes,” Koscielny said. “Mistakes can happen in life. It was hard for the fans and for the club, but life goes on. There are things more important than losing a final. There will be plenty more finals to play and win.
“It was tough to swallow, but it made me a better player and a better person.
“Afterwards, I had a week where I was feeling really bad. It was my first final and the club and the fans had been waiting for a trophy for a while.
“It was so hard to take. I needed time to digest it, but I had to bounce back to come back stronger than I did.”
Arsenal will be without Alex Song for tonight’s game at Villa Park as he is serving a one-match suspension for collecting five yellow cards this season.
On top of the rash of injuries to full backs, also missing are Jack Wilshere (ankle), Lukasz Fabianski (knee), Vito Mannone (shoulder), Abou Diaby (hamstring) and Ryo Miyaichi (ankle).
Robin van Persie stands on 33 league goals in 2011 – one short of Thierry Henry’s club record set in 2004 and just three short of Alan Shearer’s Premier League record set in 1995.
He now has a more prolific scoring rate this year than Lionel Messi for club and country.
Aston Villa striker Darren Bent remains sidelined with the thigh strain that caused him to miss the defeat by Liverpool last weekend.
Emile Heskey, with an Achilles problem, and Chris Herd (ankle)also miss out and James Collins is struggling with a knee injury, but Gabby Agbonlahor will likely return after serving a one-match suspension.
