Wenger pleads for patience with Arsenal youngsters

Arsene Wenger has pleaded for patience ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup fourth round replay against Cardiff on Tuesday because he believes his young guns are starting to emerge from their growing pains.

Wenger’s already flickering title hopes were snuffed out on Saturday as Arsenal were held to a 0-0 draw by West Ham which left the Gunners 10 points behind leaders Manchester United, who also have a game in hand.

But despite the growing sense that Arsenal are become second class citizens among English football’s elite, Wenger retains complete faith in the youngsters he has blooded this season.

With a lengthy injury list robbing Wenger of several key players including Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky for much of the season, the French coach has let the likes of Denilson, Carlos Vela, Aaron Ramsey, Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby gain much needed experience.

The downside of playing so many youngsters is the inconsistency that follows. As a result the Premier League is out of reach and success in the Champions League is far from certain, yet Wenger refuses to panic.

“We have not to go overboard with the crisis we face – let’s judge our team at the end of the season,” he said.

“Manchester United bought Dimitar Berbatov for 31.5 million pounds and you look at the cost of their team and you will understand why they are ahead.

“We can of course compete, but we have a young team and we have gone a different way. We go through a period where we have to accept maybe to be strong and patient a little bit.

“We are on a good run, but the big problem is once you are behind every point you drop looks like a disaster.

“However, if you look at our run in the last 10 to 12 games I feel the team is improving.

“We lack still a little bit of creativity and a little bit of invention but overall we are consistent, we are fighting. I am not negative about the team.”

The FA Cup now represents Arsenal’s best chance of ending their four-year trophy drought, so perhaps it wasn’t surprising that Wenger opted to rest leading scorer Robin van Persie in Saturday’s draw against West Ham.

Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium was the venue when Arsenal last won the FA Cup back in 2005 thanks to a penalty shoot-out win over Manchester United.

But Wenger’s side were relieved to escape the less glamourous surroundings of Ninian Park with a draw 10 days ago after being given a tough test by Dave Jones’s Championship promotion chasers.

While Arsenal were failing to break down West Ham, Cardiff consolidated their position in the play-offs with a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

City defender Kevin McNaughton is certain that last season’s beaten finalists have no reason to fear their trip to the Emirates Stadium.

“We’re going through a great run lately and there seems to be no doubt whatsoever in this camp that we can beat anybody,” he said.

“We know that we’re not favourites to win the match, but we will do our thing and hope it pays dividends for us.

“I think there is a confident swagger about this team, especially away from home, because we are as good as anybody in this division and showed at least in one game we can compete at a higher level.

“We will treat it as a Championship match and go out believing that we can win the match. You go to a place like the Emirates believing anything but you can win and you’ve got no chance.”