Match Preview - Arsenal v Shrewsbury Town - League Cup

Ryo Miyaichi could see his first action for Arsenal.

by Stuart Matthews

Arsène Wenger's "turn-the-page" approach to Tuesday night's League Cup clash with Shrewsbury Town at the Emirates is clear: No promises - but some demands. Definitely, yes.

"We will play better than in the last game," said the Arsenal boss, who re-groups the Gunners after they were overturned 4-3 at Blackburn on Saturday. No promises then, about a league campaign which has gotten off to a distinctly flawed start. And no vision stated, beyond facing the promotion-seeking League Two opponents who will visit the Emirates in a game of potential danger for the Premier League giants.

Arsenal skipper Robin Van Persie remembers clearly how the loss to Birmingham City in last year's League Cup final at Wembley sent the team reeling through the final weeks of the season. Like the manger, Van Persie is setting a grim face for the encounter.

"At some point you need to pick yourself up and prove what you are capable of," Van Persie said. "We are not doing that at the moment, and we are not consistent enough. It is the reality now ... We have a game on Tuesday again and we must give our maximum. We have to look at it game by game."

The captain himself will not feature against the Shrews Tuesday night, although a wounded Wenger is likely to pick a mixture of veterans and the "Carling Cup kids" who have serve the club so well in this domestic cup campaign in years past. After what happened at Ewood Park on Saturday, no one at Arsenal is overlooking Shrewsbury.

Speedster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arsenal's most expensive signing of the off-season, is likely to feature prominently, as well as youngsters Emmanuel Frimpong, Carl Jenkinson, Ignasi Miquel and Francis Coquelin.

Arsenal fans will also be keen to see a glimpse of the new Asian flavour Wenger has brought in at forward positions. South Korean World Cup star Ju Young Park may find himself leading the line, and Japanese teenager Ryo Miyaichi could add to the Gunners' attack.

Lukasz Fabianski is to handle the gloves for Arsenal and experienced hands such as Marouane Chamakh, Kieran Gibbs, Yossi Benayoun and Johan Djourou will have pivotal roles, with one of them likely taking the captain's armband.

"That means having the right balance between experience and youth," Wenger said.

For his part, Shrewsbury manager Graham Turner is taking nothing for granted, but he hinted: "If they are below their best and we can play above ourselves, we have the players to cause one or two problems. We have pace and mobility that may bring us a result."