Arsenal are confident Cesc Fábregas will be available to confront his former club, Barcelona, in the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday after a scan revealed the Spain international had not suffered any serious damage to his right leg.

Fábregas was kicked just below his right knee by Craig Gardner during Saturday's potentially damaging Premier League 1-1 draw with Birmingham City and, although he managed to finish the match at St Andrew's, Arsène Wenger had expressed doubt as to whether the 22-year-old would be fit enough to feature. But a scan on the knock allayed some of those fears and the club's medical staff hope now to give the midfielder the green light to resume full training.

The player underwent treatment for the severe bruising sustained to the joint and his leg today and a final decision will be made after the team's training session tomorrow morning. Wenger will also assess Abou Diaby who picked up a knock at Birmingham, but will be relieved that both Andrey Arshavin (knee) and Samir Nasri (groin) should be fit for the critical first leg against the reigning European champions. The latter pair started on the bench on Saturday but reported no ill-effects from their cameo appearances.

Yet it is Fábregas's involvement that is key. Barcelona have earmarked the Arsenal captain as the team's most creative talent and the midfielder has 18 goals to his name this season.

"I believe he is more relaxed," Wenger said of Fábregas. "There is less tension in his finishing. You feel that before he wanted to force the chance and now he is more relaxed. "He has gained more physical power. You can see he resists much more the runs of his opponents and he is more powerful in his runs. These two ingredients make a big difference. But I believe the change in formation has had an impact as well. He has more freedom to join in now."

The Spanish champions arrive in London tomorrow without the injured Andrés Iniesta, who tweaked his hamstring during Saturday's victory over Real Mallorca, but with Eric Abidal in their number. The France international defender has been troubled by a thigh injury since the beginning of February but was able to train today and was included in Pep Guardiola's 20-man squad. The central defender Gerard Piqué, formerly of Manchester United, had been training on his own as he recovered from a knee injury but was also included in the party.

Guardiola insisted his side will be intent upon securing an away goal at the very least from the first game at the Emirates. "Since I took the job our play has been marked by brave, attacking football," he said. "Win or lose, I want us to show who we are and what kind of football we believe in."