Aaron Ramsey wants Arsenal to take momentum from Tuesday's European victory into this weekend's Barclays Premier League match with Newcastle United.
Having endured a difficult first half at Stoke City on Saturday, which saw Arsenal trail 3-0 at the break before losing 3-2, Arsenal bounced back in the Uefa Champions League against Galatasaray.
Ramsey's stunning long-range strike helped Arsenal round off their group campaign with a 4-1 win in Istanbul.
Arsenal return to the Emirates Stadium off the back of a win but without Calum Chambers and Nacho Monreal (ankle) due to suspension and injury respectively.
While Newcastle will also be full of confidence after ending Chelsea's unbeaten start to the campaign last weekend, Ramsey feels his teammates showed character in midweek that will stand them in good stead.
"It was obviously a disappointing first half [at Stoke], but we did well in the second half and almost got back into it," he said.
"It was important to bounce back from that defeat and we did that.
"Every player here wants to work hard for [Wenger], we proved that again on Tuesday night. He has been under some unfair criticism, but we are all out there, we are in it together.
"We wanted to get the result for us and for him."
Newcastle showcased their renewed vigour under Alan Pardew last weekend by inflicting a first defeat of the season on Jose Mourinho's league leaders Chelsea.
A haul of 19 points from a possible 24 sees them travel to the capital in good spirits, and 21-year-old goalkeeper Jak Alnwick will make his first senior start for the club after preserving Newcastle’s clean sheet in the second half against Chelsea.
Fellow goalkeepers Tim Krul and Rob Elliott, who Alnwick replaced, are both injury absentees along with Rolando Aarons and Davide Santon, while Steven Taylor and Moussa Sissoko miss out through suspension.
Pardew hailed the job done by opposite number Wenger, and expects a tough test in north London.
"Arsene Wenger has done an unbelievable job at Arsenal and in some ways their stadium should be named after him," he said on Thursday.
"Arsenal has not been a happy hunting ground for us in recent years. The games at St James' Park have been tight and we hope this one is too.
"There will be no Rolando Aarons or Davide Santon. We are pretty much where we were for Chelsea in terms of injuries."
Arsenal (from): Martinez, Ospina, Szczesny, Chambers, Debuchy, Gibbs, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Cazorla, Diaby, Flamini, Gnabry, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Rosicky, Alexis, Campbell, Giroud, Podolski, Sanogo, Welbeck.
Newcastle United (from): Alnwick, Dummett, Haidara, Janmaat, Streete, Williamson, Abeid, Anita, Bigirimana, Cabella, Colback, Tiote, Vuckic, Ameobi, Armstrong, Cisse, Ferreyra, Gouffran, Perez, Riviere.
Match Appointments
Referee: Lee Mason
Assistants: S Burt, A Halliday
Fourth Official: N Swarbrick
Match Facts
Olivier Giroud has netted four goals in four Barclays Premier League appearances against Newcastle United.
Newcastle have won just one of the last 14 league matches against Arsenal (W1 D5 L8) including losing the last five on the bounce.
Three of the four goals Giroud has scored against Newcastle have been headers. In fact he has scored with all three headers on target he has mustered against Alan Pardew’s side.
The Magpies are the only team yet to score in the opening 30 minutes of their BPL matches this season. Their earliest goal this season has come in the 37th minute.
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