Piero Hincapie has endured a stop-start beginning to his Arsenal career but now the tough Ecuador international defender is poised to play an integral role in their four-pronged pursuit of silverware.

The 23-year-old centre-back, who is equally comfortable at left-back, helped the Gunners record their eighth successive clean sheet - all of which have come in matches they have won - in all competitions on Tuesday.

Arsenal have now surpassed a club-record, previously set by George Graham's Gunners side in 1987, following their shutout of Slavia Prague in the Czech capital.

Only two other English clubs have ever matched that sequence (Liverpool in 1920 and Preston North End in 1889) and Mikel Arteta's hungry outfit are looking to write more history this Saturday when they travel to Sunderland in the Premier League in search of a record ninth clean sheet on the spin.

Remarkably, it's now been a whopping 12 hours and 56 minutes since the Gunners last conceded a goal when Nick Woltemade netted the opener in the...