Published: 15 May, 2014
by STEVE BARNETT

ARSENE Wenger is adamant that there is no “danger of complacency” as he makes the final preparations ahead of Saturday’s silverware showdown against Hull.

Despite having failed to win a trophy in nine years Arsenal travel to Wembley as favourites to lift the FA Cup.

But Wenger (pictured) insists that the tag means nothing when it comes to a cup final.

“To be favourites doesn’t guarantee you anything,” the Frenchman said. “It just means if you turn up on the day of the game with a good performance you have more chance of winning. So let’s focus on turning up with a great performance.

“I don’t believe we need any warning about Hull.

"We know that a final is a final, that Hull are a Premier League team, they can pass the ball, they can create chances.

"It’s just down to us to perform well on the day of the game. I honestly don’t feel there is any danger of complacency – we know the difficulty of the task. If you look at our run in the FA Cup, we’ve had a hard run.

“We played against Tottenham, against Liverpool, against Everton, Wigan in the semi-final.

"Coventry was maybe a little bit easier but, overall, if you look at the run we had it was very tough. We have done all this and we want to finish it now.”

Wenger accepts that the length of time since Arsenal last won a trophy may make the game more difficult, but he has backed his side to handle the pressure.

“There is always high expectancy and it brings pressure,” he said.

“The advantage we have is that we’ve played many games this season under that kind of pressure and tension and our experience of dealing with it will help us prepare for the final.”

Meanwhile Per Mertesacker believes that having come from a goal down and survived a penalty shootout to beat Wigan in the semi-finals, the Gunners fully focused on finishing the job.

“I think we raised our confidence so much in the last couple of weeks that I think we’re going to make it.

“It’s a bit different now to the semi.

“Now we want to finish the season properly. Our expectations now are that we’re going to win the cup.”