Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is confident his former captain Tony Adams is the right choice as the new Portsmouth boss. The Frenchman said: "It makes me very happy. I believe it is a good opportunity for him and we wish him of course well.

"He is at the age now where you have to start in this job. For the rest I believe he has a good squad and he has worked a lot now in this job and I think he is ready.

"Tony has now much more experience because he has been abroad and has been at Portsmouth as an assistant.

"I believe he has the qualities and that is why I am very positive about it."

Wenger firmly believes Adams has the leadership qualities needed to take Pompey forwards.

"I believe that he has natural authority which is one important ingredient, the second one is of course to convince everybody about your philosophy and the way you see things," he said.

"At that level you need a big resistance to stress and daily commitment.

"You want to give him the chance. What is most important is that I believe he has the qualities.

"He gets the opportunity and only time will tell how he would do and I would bet that he will do well."