Wenger to use novice attack for final step

Arsene Wenger will have a group of inexperienced attackers to choose from for Arsenal's Carling Cup semi-final first-leg match against Middlesbrough at Highbury tonight.

David Bentley, Michal Papadopulos, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and Ryan Smith may not be household names with most fans but at least one - and probably two - of them will have the chance to make an impression against Steve McClaren's side in the absence of the injured Dennis Bergkamp and Sylvain Wiltord and the rested Thierry Henry.

"It's too risky [to field stronger teams in the Carling Cup] because we go for the Premiership, the Champions' League, and the season is long," Wenger said, "and somewhere as well I want to give players who have done well in the Carling Cup the chance to keep going." So can he envisage a side of novices going all the way to the final? "It would be nice to have that problem," he said.

Bentley, aged 19, made his first-team debut last season against Oxford in the third round of the FA Cup. He is a regular player at youth level for England and has captained the England Under-18s. He scored seven times for the reserves last season and has started the last two Carling Cup ties.

The 18-year-old Papadopulos joined the Gunners on loan from the Czech side Banik Ostrava in August 2003. He made his first-team debut for Banik in 2001-02 and during the following season started two games and came off the substitutes' bench 10 times. He has played for the Czech Republic's Under-17 and Under-19 teams and has been a substitute for the last two Carling Cup games.

Owusu-Abeyie is only 17 and has already played for the Netherlands' Under-19 side. He moved to Arsenal from Ajax just over a year ago. He scored 17 goals last season in 20 Under-17 appearances for the club, including six in the 7-1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Owusu-Abeyie was a late substitute in the Carling Cup third-round tie against Rotherham and it was his chip which was handled outside the area by the goalkeeper, Mike Pollitt, which led to him being sent off. Owusu-Abeyie also scored his penalty in the shoot-out as the Gunners scraped home.

Smith is also 17 and is mainly used as a left-sided midfielder but he can also play up front. An England youth team regular, he made 18 Under-17 appearances for Arsenal last season, scoring three goals. He was a substitute in the opening two Carling Cup ties this season.

Whoever makes up the Arsenal attack is likely to face an equally green Boro defence as Gareth Southgate and Colin Cooper have hamstring injuries and Ugo Ehiogu is struggling with a groin problem. Chris Riggott, Andrew Davies and Stuart Parnaby are standing by.

Boro's midfielder Jonathan Greening is missing after having his tonsils removed but the striker Michael Ricketts has recovered from a knee injury.

McClaren has urged his side to forget about their 4-1 Premiership defeat at Highbury last weekend. "We're going into the game perfectly relaxed," he said. "We're not expected to win, everybody expects Arsenal just to walk all over us. So we've got nothing to lose and we go there to quietly get on with our jobs and have a real go."