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Bentley faces Arsenal reserves
04 April 2005
David Bentley will be looking to step up his comeback from injury this evening when he faces his full-time employers Arsenal in a Premiership Reserve League fixture.
The on-loan Norwich City frontman was forced to sit out Saturday's first-team clash at Highbury under the terms of his temporary move - but he is eligible for the second string fixture between the two clubs, which is being staged at Barnet's Underhill ground (7pm).
Bentley successfully came through an hour-long run-out against Charlton Reserves last Wednesday, his first outing since damaging knee ligaments during the FA Cup defeat at West Ham back on January 8.
Now he will be looking to build on that against his parent club to set up the strong possibility of Premiership return against mighty Manchester United at Carrow Road at the weekend.
Bentley and his City colleagues are likely to find themselves up against the formidable figure of Sol Campbell this evening. The Arsenal defender has now recovered from the ankle injury that ruled him out of England duty last week and has been pencilled in for a run-out against the Canaries' second string.
City Reserves: Lewis, R Jarvis, Brennan, Mulryne, Halliday, Doherty, Bentley, Svensson, Smith, McVeigh. Subs Eagle, Cave-Brown, Howlett, Howell.
Meanwhile, manager Nigel Worthington is adopting his traditional 'wait and see approach' over the fitness of Marc Edworthy ahead of the eagerly-awaited clash with Sir Alex Ferguson's side, which will see the new Norwich Union Community Stand in full use for the first time.
The City full-back limped off after 73 minutes at Highbury on Saturday after falling awkwardly and his manager revealed afterwards that the player had twisted his ankle.
"We brought him off to prevent any further damage and we'll just have to see what that's like later in the week," explained Worthington.
Edworthy's misfortune offered Thomas Helveg the opportunity to make his first appearance for the Canaries since that FA Cup reverse at Upton Park, while Mathias Svensson returned after an even longer lay-off.
The Swedish striker replaced Leon McKenzie 20 minutes from time to get his first Premiership action for three-and-half months and both Scandinavians will now be hoping for a full game against United on Saturday.
"It was good to see Matt back after a long spell out," said Worthington. "We decided to give him a run-out because Leon was out on his feet, having worked so hard, and we wanted to guard against the possibility of injury.
"It's was good to see Thomas back as well. He has just had two games for Denmark in the World Cup so he is back up to speed now."
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