ARSENE WENGER is in no doubt Cesc Fabregas has the strength of character to beat what the Arsenal manager believes is a witch hunt against his captain.

Fabregas, 23, has once again found himself the centre of attention after Everton manager David Moyes claimed the Spain midfielder made unrepeatable comments to match officials, which should have earned him a red card, as the players went down the tunnel at half-time of their Barclays Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, when Arsenal trailed to a controversial goal which appeared offside.

The Football Association have confirmed referee Lee Mason did not include any such incident in his report, although further speculation of just what the Arsenal captain was reported to have shouted, questioning the integrity of the officials, emerged yesterday.

Wenger is in no doubt there is an agenda against his captain - but has backed the World Cup winner to come through as he drives the team on for success in all four competitions.

Asked if he thought there was a witch hunt against Fabregas, Wenger said: “Yes. We are long enough in the job to know that somebody picks on you for a while, and you are in the heat of the moment.

“But for me what is the most important is the player behaves well.

“When Cesc is on the pitch, he tries to play football - I cannot say everybody who plays against him tries to do that.

“For example, some people reproach him for not exchanging shirts with a player after the game - but I hope he will not exchange shirts with players who try to kick him for 90 minutes and then come to say ’please can I get your shirt?’