Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Sol Campbell can prove his return to the Gunners was ‘worth it’ when his injury-hit side faces Porto (11/8 in the match betting) in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Wenger’s side (8/1 to win the Champions League) have a raft of injuries to contend with after Andrey Arshavin, Alex Song, William Gallas, Manuel Almunia and Eduardo were all ruled out of the trip to Portugal for the first leg.

The quintuple join long-term absentees Robin van Persie, Kieran Gibbs and Johan Djourou on the sidelines with Wenger forced to shuffle his pack for the first leg against Porto.

With Gallas ruled out with a back injury Campbell (11/1 to score anytime) looks set to make his first appearance in the Champions League since 2006 when he was part of the Arsenal side which lost to Barcelona (4/6 to beat Stuttgart on the Champions League coupon) in the final.

While Campbell has done quite well in his appearances in the FA Cup and Premier League for the Gunners the trip to Estadio do Dragao is likely to be a step up.

Wenger is confident that if Campbell does join Thomas Vermaelen at the heart of the Arsenal defence he will prove he is good enough to compete with Europe’s elite.

“It is a possibility that I don’t rule out at the moment because if he [Campbell] doesn’t play there it would mean you play with two left-footed players [Vermaelen and Mikael Silvestre] that I don’t really like,” said Wenger.

“What it means to him is that he can show that his signing was worth doing and that he can help us to go through to the last eight.”

Wenger has also given his backing to Lukasz Fabianski as he prepares to deputise between the posts, claiming he has total faith in the Poland international.