Manuel Almunia today revealed how his Arsenal team-mates have helped Nicklas Bendtner become a better player and backed him to bounce back to goalscoring form against Porto.
The 22-year-old endured a torrid time in the 3-1 victory against Burnley on Saturday as he wasted several clear-cut opportunities to score before being substituted.
Despite having netted just five goals in 21 appearances this season, Bendtner is expected to start in attack in tomorrow night's Champions League last 16 second leg and Almunia is expecting a positive response.
"I hope he reacts tomorrow and I think he is encouraged by the chances he missed in the game against Burnley," said the Spanish goalkeeper.
"Today he has been training very well. Nick is a special guy. He is young and he is learning.
"I think he needs people around him who tell him the truth all the time. When he does well, of course everybody will tell him he is good.
"But when he misses goals he needs someone to push him to improve. That is what we try."
On the outside at least, Bendtner's confidence always remains undiminished regardless of his form but there is heightened pressure on Arsenal's forwards to deliver as they look to overturn a first-leg deficit against the Portuguese champions.
There is little doubt that Robin van Persie would have led the line tomorrow night had the Dutchman not been sidelined until April with an ankle problem while Eduardo seems to be continuing to struggle with both his fitness and form. But manager Arsene Wenger insists he is equally happy to place his faith in Bendtner.
"I believe he is on the way up in his game and in terms of his contribution," said the Arsenal manager.
"He missed some big chances on Saturday but that is needed for any young striker at some stage.
"He isolates why he missed the chances and gets it right in the next game. That is important for a young striker and I think he is really improving at the moment and that was just an isolated game.
"I believe in every competition you always have something to prove and show how good you are.
"He has a good mental strength and even if he was disappointed with the chances he missed, it will not diminish his desire and confidence to go into the next game and show how good he is."
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Almunia missed the first leg with a finger injury and watched on television as replacement Lukasz Fabianski turned in a dire display in the Estadio do Dragao.
Fabianski was fiercely criticised for both goals Arsenal conceded but Almunia, whose own form has been questioned at times this season, said: "I understand people talk about the goals we conceded but I would like not to talk about other team-mates' mistakes and focus on our performance in general.
"Unfortunately, I missed the first-leg against Porto and I was very disappointed to not play in the game. We had a bad result but we only need to win 1-0. But, of course, it will be a problem if we concede a goal.
"Everybody feels good about this game. We have the confidence to get the goals early but our priority will be to maintain the clean sheet."
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