Vermaelen not scared of injuries

The Belgium defender is ready to make his first
European appearance for Barca and he is not
preoccupied by the thought of suffering another
injury setback

Thomas Vermaelen insists he is not afraid of succumbing to
another injury as he prepares for his Champions League
debut with Barcelona.

The Belgium international made his belated first competitive
appearance for the club on the final day of the previous Liga
season after battling a thigh injury throughout his first
campaign at the Catalan giants.

Vermaelen, who arrived at Camp Nou in August 2014,
suffered another setback at the beginning of 2015-16 but the
former Arsenal captain says he is fired up for his first
appearance in the tournament with the European
champions.

"It'll be something very special, I'm looking forward to it," he
said.

"I understand people might question how I feel. When I'm on
the pitch I don't feel that I'm scared of getting injured again.

"The small setback was disappointing but I feel good."

Barcelona have struggled for defensive consistency so far
this season but Vermaelen feels the whole team must
accept responsibility.

"Defending is about a team, the shape of the team. It's an
important part of the game," he said.

"I agree there are a lot of players who can play [at centre-
back]. But we know there are a lot of games and we need
all our players, all the squad.

"I think we all want to play the same, we want to fit into the
role as well as we can with the qualities we have. We all
want to play with the ball, as Barcelona does.

"I know we haven't done that as well as last season in a few
games. The team is working on the training pitch."