Arsene Wenger insists he is ready to gamble on Calum Chambers again to solve Arsenal's centre-back crisis.

England Under-21 defender Chambers endured a torrid night against Liverpool on Monday because Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny were both out, though he helped prevent the Reds scoring in the 0-0 draw.

Manager Wenger is facing the same problem again for the Saturday lunchtime trip to Newcastle but says he will have no fears about pairing the 20-year-old with Brazilian Gabriel in central defence again.

The Gunners' boss said of former Southampton starlet Chambers: “He showed character. The positive of the night - he did not have the best performance in the first half - was the way he recovered.

“He showed his mental strength.

In pictures — Arsenal train for the trip to Newcastle:

"He has lost a bit of confidence, compared to the player he was last year. Maybe it’s through not playing too much, the Under-21 tournament [with England this summer] did not help him too much, as he did not play at all.

“I have spoken to him and he’s a strong footballer, a dedicated player who is ready to work day and night. He has the talent to be a good player.”

Wenger admitted he thought about subbing Chambers to put him out of his misery at half-time against Liverpool, but is happy he stuck with him.

But the Frenchman also made it clear his senior players should have given the youngster more support.

Chambers had a brilliant start to his Arsenal career last season, but struggled after losing his place and that has affected his confidence.

“I don’t think it would have killed him [to replace him],” said Wenger. “I did not sub him as I wanted to save my offensive options. It also gives him time to recover. But we wanted to win the game. He recovered quite well in the second half.

“We want to play out from the back, so the players go into the game and do that.

In pictures — Arsenal 0-0 Liverpool:

"Once they lose the ball, they think they have to continue to play out from the back. But the more experienced players maybe should have said, 'You can see that he is having trouble. Let’s push forward, so he can kick the ball into the opponent’s half, and play off Giroud.’

"That is what I told them to do.

“By the time they realised that on the pitch we were already in trouble — it was unbelievable on the night that the game finished 0-0.”

Wenger will be happy to keep another clean sheet at Newcastle, but knows the Magpies also need to win after an indifferent start to their campaign under new boss Steve McClaren.

The Arsenal manager could make changes further forward to try to play with pace on the break at St James’ Park.

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