Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil is poised to come in from the cold on Wednesday, possibly as captain, after a pep talk with Gunners' boss Unai Emery.
The Germany international has figured just twice this season – the Premier League opener and the previous round in Carabao Cup against Nottingham Forest over a month ago.
But Emery has included him in the squad for tomorrow’s fourth round tie against Liverpool at Anfield, while current skipper Granit Xhaka is absent after his well-publicised tantrum against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Emery is keen to see Ozil back to his best and commented: “We need his quality, his skill and his consistency.
“We need his positive mentality and then he will help us on the pitch. That’s the next step. I think he’s done the steps before, and now I want the steps like in pre-season and one month ago to help us on the pitch.
“He’s in the group so he has a chance to play. We have had this morning a very good conversation, Mesut and me, and I said to him I haven’t changed my idea about him.
“He knows what I want from him because it’s the same as last season in the first day of pre-season training when we had a conversation. It’s the same as one month ago and in that way, some circumstances weren’t helping us in every moment to be consistent or available to play.
“But I will say I think the last weeks he has progressively been training well and adding his spirit to help us. For example, our conversation this morning was because I wanted to listen to him about how he’s thinking now to help us and be with us tomorrow.”
Emery says he will even consider Ozil, who is one of Emery’s five-strong leadership team, as skipper with Xhaka’s given time out to reflect on his future at the club.
“It depends because he’s one of the captains,” explained Emery. “I’m not thinking exactly yet, but we are going to decide the first XI and if he’s in the first XI. It depends on who else plays. He could be [captain], yes.”
Emery sees the match as a good opportunity to give their spirits a lift after Sunday’s negative publicity.
“Each match in this competition can be different, and tomorrow is one very good opportunity for us. We will be thinking that the Carabao Cup is important and it’s an opportunity for us to recover confidence and our way,” he added.
“Each game is difficult and maybe they will change some players also, but to win at Anfield is difficult in each match.”