Injury problems mount for Wenger

Tony Adams is struggling to be fit for Arsenal's Champions League clash with Lyon at Highbury tomorrow.

Adams has had a sore back for the past two days and his absence will leave manager Arsene Wenger with severe problems in central defence. Martin Keown is injured and there is still a doubt about Gilles Grimandi. Igors Stepanovs, who played so well against Chelsea, is ineligible after playing for Skonto Riga in a qualifying round.

The Arsenal captain will have treatment until tomorrow afternoon but his absence will be a huge blow. Arsenal's recent good run - they are unbeaten since the New Year's Day 1-0 defeat at Charlton - has coincided with his return to regular first-team action.

Meanwhile, full-back Lee Dixon has explained the reasons behind a run that has seen Arsenal win regularly in the Premiership, reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and revive their European hopes with victory in Lyon.

Dixon, who looks set to accept the offer of a new one-year contract from the club, said: "We did a lot of talking around the turn of the year.

"We were letting goals in, we were losing games and the consistency wasn't there. We sat down as a group - all of us - with the manager in front of a board and he pointed out a lot of statistics on goals scored and goals conceded.

"He talked about where they were conceded from, where we had scored them from and where we hadn't got people in the box. We worked hard on the problems and it has been no fluke that the results changed.

"I don't want to name names but I think certain players around that time weren't perhaps playing in the traditions of the club.

"As a team, we woke up and said: 'Hang on, this isn't good enough' and the response of the players has been great.

"It wasn't just the Charlton game. November and December weren't good for us so we said: 'Why is it going wrong? Where is it going wrong? Do we need to put our foot in a bit more in the tackle?' Things like that.

"Everybody was involved and no one was excluded in the meetings. Then all of a sudden we turned it round but it wasn't easy. We have worked hard in training on certain things and it is paying off now."

Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson is backing David Beckham to shine against Valencia tonight.

Beckham was substituted in last week's first meeting and the Spaniards are are expected to try and shackle him again at Old Trafford. But Ferguson said: "If David gets his top form he can handle that."