Pires: Kidney infection has hit me

Pires said: "There is no need for alarm. The squad is the strongest I have known since I came here. We have cover all over the team and everyone saw how good the young players are in the Carling Cup matches against Manchester City and Everton. You see the quality of players such as Robin van Persie and Mathieu Flamini. I can see Van Persie playing just behind Thierry Henry in years to come and Flamini has incredible energy. He never stops during a game and he never walks. He is always running."

And Pires suddenly has genuine competition from the berth on the left side of midfield from Jose Antonio Reyes. "There is competition for places in the team. That is a good thing and every big club has that. You need it to progress. The next three months are vital for Arsenal and we will need good players to handle what is ahead of us. In the league we play Chelsea, Newcastle, Liverpool and, on Saturday, Tottenham.

That game is always difficult. Then there is the Champions League, a competition we have a great chance of winning.

"People have said we were affected mentally by losing to Manchester United but I do not think that was the case. I think we were affected physically by playing two games a week. That gave us little time to recuperate. Now we have a couple of weeks when we only play at the weekends and that will help.

"I don't think we played that badly at Palace. We didn't play any better at Manchester City and we won there. It is how it goes sometimes. You can be sure of nothing - except that we have the determination to win the league again. And although Chelsea have taken over at the top, it is not a great concern at this stage of the season. I don't know how Chelsea will handle that pressure. We will have to see. But they have a great team and in Jose Mourinho, a very good coach."

Pires won't be showing his own desire to succeed for his country in next week's friendly against Poland. Yesterday, he was axed from the squad in the wake of critical comments about the management style of new national coach Raymond Domenech. The Arsenal midfielder has accused Domenech of treating him like a schoolboy.

Domenech was furious and the French Football Federation were not overly impressed either. He will be at their offices on Monday morning to explain his views. If they are expecting an apology, the wait will be a long one.

Pires insisted: "I stand by what I said and I regret nothing I said. I have played for my country 79 times and won the two major prizes in football with France. Noone is more proud than me to play for France. But what I gave was an honest answer to a question. I speak from the heart.

"Did I say what other players were thinking? I cannot answer that. But it is what I felt. I hope it is not the end of my playing career with France because I want very much to be in the squad for the World Cup qualifier with Switzerland next March."

Pires is equally sure he wants to extend his stay at Arsenal and welcomed manager Arsene Wenger's decision to sign a new contract last month.

"Will I stay at Arsenal for the rest of my career? If I can, yes. My contract is until 2006 and his is until 2008 and if Arsene wants me to stay longer, I will."