Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insists he was right to dump William Gallas from the club captaincy last season.

Gallas, 32, was shell-shocked when Cesc Fabregas took his place as skipper - but Wenger believes his decision gave the centre-half the motivation to turn round his Arsenal career.

Wenger said: "I feel it was certainly a big blow to William to lose the captaincy but he has shown his mental strength which I respect a lot and secondly he has worked even harder.

"It was quite an amusing situation because now he's suddenly captain of the French national team and that shows you.

"He has taken the right attitude which is what you expect from a top-level sportsman."

What's more he has scored three goals in Arsenal's first three games in all competitions.

Wenger added: "What is the most important for me is that he's looking sharp defensively.

"We know that he will score goals, although some of them have been a bit accidental but very helpful.

"What I mean is that it's not what I expect from him if he doesn't score any more - but as a defender I'm very happy. That's all I want from him."

With Fabregas out injured for tonight's Champions League play-off second leg with Celtic at the Emirates there could have been a route back to the armband for Gallas.

But Wenger's response to the idea was a swift "No."