Cesc Fabregas handed Arsenal captaincy as William Gallas returns for Kiev clash

The controversial defender was excluded from the trip to Manchester City on Saturday, which Arsene Wenger's men lost 3-0, after publicly criticising his team and questioning their fighting spirit.

However, Wenger maintained that former Chelsea defender Gallas, 31, still had a future at the club.

"William will play against Kiev, but the captain of the team will be Fabregas," he said. "I do not think I have to especially explain why I make the decisions, but it is a permanent thing.

"William is a player that I rate; I have big respect for him. It wasn’t working as a captain, he was under big pressure from the press and at some stage you do not want this kind of pressure to affect him or affect the team.

"He took all the team’s problems to his heart. This can be a new start for him."

Wenger felt it had been an "interesting" few days for Arsenal, whose season is threatening to unravel.

He said: "When you do not win, nobody jumps off the roof, but the frustration does kick in. It is a good opportunity now for us to show we have strength and ability - you know how it works, you go from fantastic to a catastrophe, but real life is somewhere in between."

Wenger also said he was confident that the future of the club was in safe hands, led by 21-year-old Fabregas.

"I believe the captain is the voice of the club towards the outside, and is one of the leaders of the team," he said. "However, I do not believe in just one man in the dressing room who sorts out all of the problems.

"A successful team is a shared leadership inside the dressing room. He (Fabregas) will be one of the leaders, but not the only one."

Predicting that his squad can turn things around he said: "So even if we are at the moment frustrated, it is not all doom and gloom. We have a strong belief in our ability and we have a good opportunity to show we care about the club and that we can qualify tomorrow.

"We have quite a good way to protect the players here and they know how much we believe in them and how much confidence we have in them.

"My trust in my players has not been affected."(telegraph)