Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger knows he has a job lifting the confidence of Emmanuel Eboue after yesterday's 1-0 defeat of Wigan. Eboue was brought on in the 32nd minute of the 1-0 win but suffered ignominy of being taken off again after a series of mistakes, including taking the ball off team-mate Kolo Toure then passing straight back to the visitors. Home fans gave ironic cheers when Eboue stormed off.

With Mikael Silvestre brought on, Arsenal were able to battle their way to the win that they wanted to proved they are Barclays Premier League title contenders.

"It was a difficult decision but he had completely lost his confidence," said Wenger. "He couldn't keep the ball any more and had become a danger.

"I just didn't want the 90 minutes' work to go to waste. The fans contributed. He's a sensitive boy who wants to do well and he cares about the club.

"It was very sad but the important thing was that we won the game.

"I can understand him going straight down the tunnel because the crowd were very hard on him."

Wenger has backed the midfielder, who is only just back from a knee injury, to bounce back from this performance.

"I think he will come back and show how good a player he is," Wenger said. "The same fans will applaud him when he does well."