by Lee Hurley

Arsene Wenger confirmed that Petr Cech will make his Arsenal debut against Everton on Sunday in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy.

It had been expected that Cech would play some role in the game against the Singapore Select XI but he was a surprise omission as the boss started Emi Martinez in the first half and Wojciech Szczesny in the second.

Speaking after the game, the manager said “Today I left nine players out, they will be involved on Saturday. I will rotate a bit because the week after we play two games again.

“For me at the moment the [objective is] to give competition to the players without overloading them and [for them] to be capable to work hard in training and to work on their fitness. If they play too many games, you cannot work in training.”

Arsenal have taken a full-strength squad with them to Singapore with only Alexis missing as he recovers from his Copa America exertions.

He is expected back at the start of August but will not be deemed match fit in time for the start of the season.