Wenger praise for Hoyte

Gunners boss out to keep versatile defender

Last updated: 22nd January 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Wenger praise for Hoyte

Hoyte: Backed by Wenger

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Arsene Wenger has no intention of letting anyone other than Arsenal benefit from the "quality" of defender Justin Hoyte.

The versatile 23-year-old is expected to feature in the second leg of the Gunners' Carling Cup semi-final at Tottenham on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports 1.

He is likely to slot in alongside William Gallas following injuries to Philippe Senderos and Johan Djourou.

Wenger firmly believes Hoyte has a bright future ahead of him.

The summer arrival of French right-back Bacary Sagna, however, cast some doubts on whether the Academy graduate would remain with the Gunners.

It is understood Arsenal recently rejected a bid from Aston Villa for the England Under-21 international, who has attracted plenty of interest in the loan market.

Quality

Wenger said: "Justin is a player that has improved tremendously.

"I have big respect for Justin because he is a player that does not talk too much, but every time I play him he is quality.

"He can be in the centre and when I did that against Tottenham in the first leg, he did very, very well.

"Technically he is very good - but as well he is very versatile and quick on the turn which is a great quality for a centre-back.

"He is good in the air even if he is small and overall I refuse categorically to give him up."

Wenger added: "Part of being at a big club is you accept that other players might come in and do extremely well and he has to be patient."