The veteran German international came out of retirement to help ease the Gunners' goalkeeping crisis after injuries to Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski left Manuel Almunia as the only fit senior man. James Shea, 19, is normally between the posts for Neil Banfield's side, with 10 appearances so far. However, given Lehmann, who will be 42 later this year, is in need of match sharpness, he could be given a run-out against the Latics at the Robin Park Arena. Almunia, 33, may have only just found himself back in the first-team picture, but the Spaniard is already under the spotlight once again. Despite performing well in what turned out to be a 3-1 defeat against Barcelona which ended Arsenal's Champions League ambitions for another season last month, Almunia then left himself open to criticism after a terrible mix-up with stand-in centre-back Sebastien Squillaci at The Hawthorns which allowed relegation battlers West Brom to take a 2-0 lead. While the Gunners eventually fought back to salvage a draw, it has again put focus on who will be between the posts when domestic action resumes against Blackburn at Emirates Stadium on April 2. With Arsenal now trailing Manchester United by five points, albeit with a match in hand ahead of their May 1 showdown, there can be little room for further error. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed Almunia was left "hurt" by his costly blunder, but refused to be drawn on whether he would now make a change against Rovers. The Frenchman told Arsenal TV Online: "Jens has kept himself very fit. "He had a good basic regime, so that means he can absorb quite easily the specific work of a goalkeeper." Lehmann was part of Arsenal's Invincibles team which won the 2003/2004 Premier League crown without losing a match. The German also lifted the FA Cup in 2005 and his record of 10 successive clean sheets played a huge part in getting the team to the Champions League final the following season against Barcelona in Paris, where he was sent off inside 20 minutes. The veteran's last and seemingly final appearance for the Gunners came against Everton on May 4 2008 ahead of a move to Stuttgart. Since his retirement, Lehmann had been working as a media pundit, witnessing Arsenal's defeat in the Nou Camp first hand, and had also planned to spend some time with the Gunners backroom staff as he prepared for a move into coaching before an unexpected call from Wenger.
