It's a cup competition and that's why we love it

Last updated : 07 March 2009 By Tony Scholes
Wenger is expecting a tough game but has every confidence in his side that his current Arsenal side will go on to win trophies. "I am a great believer that this team will win everything, but the earlier the better," he said.

"What is most important is that I am confident we will have the complete focus to do it. We are not far from the end of that road, but that's where your winning attitude is tested as well, when the pressure becomes bigger and bigger. How will we respond to that? I am confident we will respond well."

Speaking about the tie and playing against Championship sides he added: "The Championship is much better than five years ago and much better than three years ago. It improves every year because there are so many foreign players and that means many good English players have to go down to the Championship. As a result the level has gone up so much so it is different for every Premier League clubs to beat them.

"Sometimes when you are away in a hotel we can watch Championship games on Friday night and sometimes on Sunday before we play. It is a good level I must say and it is a little bit like the Premier League because every team is difficult to beat.

"You know we experienced that with Plymouth in the Third Round. They are fighting not to go down but it was a difficult game for us. The gap between the Premier League and the Championship is closing. You look at the teams who have come up this year and usually all three went down straight away. Now there are 10 games to go and maybe West Brom is favourites to go down but the other two teams - Hull and Stoke - have as many chances to stay up as the other teams.

"As for Burnley, they have fantastic teamwork and good drive going forward and a good technical level. I think they have very good mobility. They play with natural width and Chris Eagles is a very good player. He has done very well against us and we need to keep him quiet. But Gibbs knows him well now and Gibbs will certainly play on Sunday. It will be a good task for him."

Finally Wenger said: "It is an important game and it is not one we will treat lightly. We treat it with respect and focus. First of all, we want to keep our run going. The best way to go into the next game against Roma is to win on Sunday. The best way to prepare is to win the game before.

"The FA Cup still has its magic. It has the magic of being qualified and the magic of going to Wembley. It has a historical significance as well. It means having something special in your daily life, something that suddenly happens which keeps everybody focused."

Owen Coyle takes his Burnley side into yet another big cup tie against a top Premier League team and as always knows just how difficult it will be for his players. "I expect an Arsenal side packed with quality and whoever plays you can guarantee they'll be an international player.

"That in itself tells you the enormity of the task, but we are going to look to be positive in the game and commit players forward at each and every opportunity and see where it takes us.

"I'm not going to set a team out to go and stop the game. We're taking over 5,000 fans and it would be remiss of me to just sit behind the ball and not offer anything in terms of an attacking threat. I'd much rather go and be positive in the game.

"Within that there's an element that could backfire and we'll be on the receiving end, but I believe in this group of players and when they're positive and look to pass and move the ball, we can create problems for the opposition."

He continued: "I believe for us to have a chance to win we have to go there and play. That's the best way forward for us, and certainly the best way forward for me as a manager. I don't think I would get any sense of enjoyment in sitting there watching a team with their backs to the wall for ninety minutes trying to scramble a 0-0 or whatever.

"We've got to accept that Arsenal will have a lot of possession and sometimes we'll have to stand up and be counted and defend our box with our lives. But we've shown we're more than capable of doing that, and we've also shown that we have the players that can hurt opposition teams regardless of the level they operate.

"I would hope that my players have taken belief from this season, particularly when you look back, as hurtful as it was, at the semi-final of the Carling Cup.

"To overcome a three goal deficit to a Premier League team in the manner in which we did, you should take tremendous heart and confidence from that.

I accept that we're away from home, at the Emirates, and it's going to be difficult, but it's a cup competition and that's why we love it. We'll go there with a positive mindset and I will send them out to impose themselves on the game."