<p><br /> Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has not yet decided whether to gamble on captain Cesc Fabregas for Tuesday's Champions League Group H clash against Shakhtar Donetsk.<br /> </p><p><br /> The Gunners skipper has not featured since September 18 after suffering a hamstring problem when scoring at Sunderland as the ball was kicked against his leg before ballooning over the keeper.<br /> </p><p><br /> Without their talismanic midfielder, Arsenal lost successive Barclays Premier League matches before the international break, although they returned to winning ways against Birmingham at the weekend.<br /> </p><p><br /> In Europe, however, Wenger's men maintained their 100 per cent start following a hard-earned 3-1 victory at Partizan Belgrade.<br /> </p><p><br /> With Shakhtar - who signed Croatia forward Eduardo from Arsenal in the summer - also having picked up six points, Tuesday night's encounter could all but guarantee one side safe passage into the knockout stage.<br /> </p><p><br /> Wenger, though, will give plenty of thought as to whether he should throw Fabregas straight back into the action.<br /> </p><p><br /> "Cesc has prepared well. He had a little setback, but got over the hurdle and is ready to play at full fitness, but whether I start him or not, I do not know yet," Wenger said.<br /> </p><p><br /> "It will be whether I take a gamble or not, because he has been out for a long time.<br /> </p><p><br /> "But physically he is ready and fit - and wanting to play."<br /> </p><p><br /> Wenger continued: "You know his influence on our team, he is our leader, our passer, he has a good level of assists and a good goalscoring record.<br /> </p><p><br /> "Ideally you want him in the team."<br /> </p><p><br /> Eduardo ended a three-year stay at Arsenal when he moved to Donetsk during the summer in a £6 million deal, having found himself pushed down the pecking order following the free transfer signing of Marouane Chamakh.<br /> </p><p><br /> Wenger admits it was somewhat emotional to see the Brazil-born forward leave, the 27-year-old having fought his way back to full fitness following an horrific broken leg and dislocated ankle at Birmingham in February 2008.<br /> </p><p><br /> "I will be happy and sad to see Eduardo," said the Arsenal manager.<br /> </p><p><br /> "Happy because he was always a fantastic boy with a fantastic mentality, he just had the class of an Arsenal player, and sad because I worked very hard to get him here and he left with the feeling that he could not completely fulfil the promise he had in the first season.<br /> </p><p><br /> "That was basically down to the fact he was injured for a long time and somebody else moved in front of him."<br /> </p>
