ARSENE WENGER paid Gillingham the supreme compliment of admitting they had forced his hand in bringing on France internationals Thierry Henry and Robert Pires to save face in his side's 5-2 FA Cup, fifth round win on Saturday at Highbury.

The Arsenal manager, with one eye focussed on Saturday's tie with Gillingham and the other on Tuesday's Champions' League match with Bayer Leverkusen, sprung a surprise by starting with the pair on the bench.

The gamble nearly backfired after Gillingham twice fought back to level at 2-2 before the pair's arrival rejuvenated Arsenal and turned the tie firmly in their favour

"The fact of the matter is that I did not intend bringing either of them on," Wenger confessed. "We have a massive game in Germany on Tuesday and I wanted them fresh.

"I had also intended taking off Kanu after 50 minutes and also Patrick Vieira but because of the situation we found ourselves in I was not able to do as I planned and that is all down to Gillingham. The best compliment I can pay Gillingham is to say they were formidable. They were fantastic and so were their supporters who are a credit to the club.

"On today's form I'm sure they will go on and have a good season in Division 1."

Wenger dimissed speculation that the FA Cup was well down Arsenal's pecking order of priorities. "We took the game seriously," he stressed. "I cannot complain about the attitude of the team which was right.

"But Gillingham got back to 1-1 and then 2-2 because they took their chances well and all credit to them. They gave everything.

"We needed to move up a gear and the fresh legs on the bench enabled us to do that. When you have the potential we did on the bench today, it helps. But Gillingham produced a great tie and I was pleased that Tony Adams was surprisingly sharp after such a long absence."

Gillingham player-manager Andy Hessenthaler spoke of his pride in the team's performance but agreed that Arsenal moved up a gear with the arrival of Henry and Pires. He said: "I'm proud of the players and it's so unfortunate that we conceded five goals today because they were fantastic. I could not have asked more of them.

"We got back to 2-2 and then Arsene Wenger paid us the compliment of bringing on Henry and Pires. Their movement and vision was unbelievable. At 2-2 I thought just keeping working hard and then I saw Henry and Pires warming up and they changed the game straight away because they moved Arsenal up a gear.

"They came on and Arsenal made their class tell. I hope now that Arsenal go on and win the Cup and maybe the treble because that would reflect greatly on us. For Marlon King to play up against Tony Adams and for Barry Ashby and Chris Hope to pit themselves against World Class players like Henry and Pires can only benefit their game.

"We tried to contain Arsenal and frustrate them and we must have done that because they had to bring Henry and Pires."