It must be Senderos over Cygan every time

Phillipe Senderos is Arsenal's answer to Roger Federer. A young Swiss world class talent, he was courted by the top teams in Europe before opting for the opportunity to be trained under Arsene Wenger.

After 18 months training at London Colney, he came into the team last February when it was at its lowest ebb: just coming off the back of a 4-2 defeat to Man Utd and a 3-1 travesty in icy Munich. Crucially he came in to replace the hapless Pascal Cygan (who in turn had replaced the injured Sol Campbell).

Drafting in a world class young talent over someone who triggers nerves among teammates and fans- or at least this fan- alike was the catalyst for the positive turn around last season.

Arsenal started to collect clean sheets with Phillipe Senderos playing like a veteran alongside the rejuvenated Kolo Toure- who had suffered a crisis of confidence next to Cygan. By the end of the season it was definitely a case that Senderos had made the absence of Campbell a forgotten concern. This was summed up by the absence of dissent when Senderos was preferred to Sol for the FA Cup final: an incredible scenario just a few months earlier.

This season Senderos has quickly been forgotten. Drogba's virtuoso show in the Shield match followed by that shinner at Stamford Bridge led to Senderos being excluded from the first team. I certainly never felt that Cygan should replace him-which resulted in three goals conceded in two games, including a calamitous Maccarone goal at the Riverside.

Sol Campbell's commanding return (replacing Cygan) from three months out has been the best story about Arsenal this season. But a second successive injury in an England shirt for the now sadly injury prone defender means that a vacancy has again arisen alongside the excellent Kolo Toure.

Against this context, its great news that Senderos has recovered from a brief back injury and is at the centre of the Swiss defence that just played out a score draw with France and is now travelling to Dublin for a World Cup showdown.

He must come back into the team in front of Cygan for Saturday's match at West Brom. After this fixture last season, Senderos spoke on television and gave an interview as impressive as his fully-focused defending. He spoke like a future captain and confirmed to me the impression that he creates confidence in his teammates with his attitude and focus on top of his precise defending.

You will see these attributes tonight when he stays cool under Irish fireworks and guides Switzerland into either automatic qualification or the play-offs: the perfect warm-up for his return to the Arsenal first-team.