Campbell can do job for England if he is called on – Wenger

Campbell – who rejoined his former club during January on a short-term contract after leaving Notts County – produced a composed display at the heart of a makeshift backline alongside fellow senior campaigner Mikael Silvestre as Arsenal all but secured third place in the Barclays Premier League with a goalless draw against Manchester City at Emirates Stadium.

England manager Fabio Capello was in the stands, although perhaps more to assess the efforts of Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, along with City's World Cup hopefuls Adam Johnson, Gareth Barry and Micah Richards than take a considered look at Campbell.

Wenger, though, feels Campbell's presence within his own squad, both on and off the pitch, has provided some much-needed nous, even if it could not ultimately help his youthful side deliver a trophy.

"I believe it is fantastic to see how well Sol has come back. When he has his mind on the game he is unbelievable," said the Arsenal boss, who is in the process of discussing with Campbell options for a possible new contract.

"Sol is a strange guy because when he is focused sometimes he can be very detached –but when he is in with you, he is 100 per cent, not 99, that is what I like. In the dressing room as well he has been very good. If Sol sets himself a target he is an unbelievable soldier."

Wenger believes Campbell, a former England captain, still has something to offer the national team. His last of 73 caps came in the defeat to Croatia at Wembley which ended hopes of reaching the 2008 European Championships.

Visiting goalkeeper Shay Given, after making a save from Abou Diaby, was carried off on a stretcher on Saturday with a suspected broken shoulder.

With regular No 2 Stuart Taylor recovering from knee surgery and not set to resume training until next week, and Joe Hart out on loan at Birmingham, rookie goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen was handed an unexpected debut.

The 23-year-old – who had spells at Blackburn, Motherwell and Wrexham before moving to Eastlands on a free transfer last summer – looked solid enough during the closing 20 minutes, but was not really tested.

City closed the gap to just a point on fourth-placed Tottenham but were knocked back down to sixth by Aston Villa, who have now played a match more, when Martin O'Neill's side beat Birmingham 1-0 in their derby yesterday lunchtime.