Arsene Wenger believes his Arsenal squad have a “mental toughness” which can see them take the battle for the Barclays Premier League title right down to the wire.
Arsenal host Blackburn Rovers tonight at the Emirates Stadium knowing a victory would move move them five points clear at the top of the table after Manchester United lost to Manchester City yesterday, while Chelsea, in third place, also slipped up with a goalless home draw against Liverpool.
Wenger knows his players - led by the experience of William Gallas - have come a long way in the past season, and have emerged as a force again having been someway off the pace since winning their last title back in 2004-05.
But the Arsenal manager firmly believes his players have what it takes to stay the course over the next four months. “The team as a whole had a personality and a mental toughness from the beginning of the season,” he said. “We were confronted with major problems and have shown resilience on every occasion.
“We have to get the best out of them until the end of the season, and then we can let people judge how good we are or not.”
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Mark Hughes, the Blackburn Rovers manager, believes injuries to his defence has damaged his team’s bid for European football. Ryan Nelsen has been struggling with a hamstring injury for most of the season and Christopher Samba is suspended, while Andre Ooijer (hamstring) is also a doubt for tonight’s match.
After a promising start to the season a difficult run in November and December halted Blackburn’s progress but they are now unbeaten in seven Barclays Premier League matches. “It has been difficult,” Hughes said. “We’ve had to make changes, we’ve had people suspended and injured and it hasn’t been a settled defence.
“It is very hard to get an unbeaten run going when there are a lot of changes, certainly in the back four. But we’ve been able to do it for seven games. We are hoping it is going to be eight; it will be difficult but we’ll be giving our best shot.”
David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen will also be missing for Blackburn as they serve suspensions, while Steven Reid is also an injury doubt.