Wenger staying positive despite second cup exit in a week

Bolton 1 Arsenal 0

The Reebok Stadium has proved a graveyard for Arsenal in recent times and not even their proud cup record could survive another trip to the ground where the club has triumphed just three times since 1961.

Wenger will be sick of the sight of Stelios, who has a habit of scoring against the Gunners and did so once again five minutes from time to book Bolton’s place in the fifth round, drifting in behind Sol Campbell to meet Ricardo Gardner’s accurate cross and power an unstoppable header past Manuel Almunia.

The visitors had no time to respond, but were left to rue a host of missed chances prior to the intervention of the Greek international.

Arsenal, without hamstring victim Thierry Henry, as well as ten other leading lights, were second best in the first half but responded well after the interval to dominate Sam Allardyce’s side without reward.

Freddie Ljungberg, Jose Reyes and Robin Van Persie all wasted openings before Wenger watched his young side pay the ultimate price.

This was Arsenal’s third defeat in a week, one of the worst Wenger has experienced during his long and successful reign at Highbury. In the space of seven days his side has fallen 25 points behind Premiership leaders Chelsea and found themselves dumped out of two domestic cup competitions. Unless they win the Champions League, there will be no silverware from a campaign for the first time since 2000/01.

Such a monumental task appears beyond Arsenal, given the obvious strengths of Barcelona, Chelsea and AC Milan, yet Wenger put a brave face on proceedings and insisted his squad had the character to fight back.

Liverpool won the ultimate club trophy last May to transform a mediocre campaign into one of greatness and this fact is not lost on Wenger.

“I hope you are right by suggesting that can happen and we will certainly fight like mad for it. To get two knocks in three days is hard, but I feel there are a lot of positives to come out of this game.

“The young players who came in have shown they have character and spirit and now we have to continue to work. I’m confident the players will respond very well. We have to focus on coming back in the Premiership and improving our position.

“That is down to us. We were determined and resolute in this game without taking our chances and if we can keep on like this we will be fine.”

The mood of Bolton counterpart Sam Allardyce could not have been in starker contrast to that of Wenger’s.

Bolton are unbeaten in 15 matches at home and, while refusing to discuss the opportunity to succeed Sven Goran Eriksson as England manager, Allardyce appreciated the progress he continues to make at club level.

Indeed, Allardyce is quietly confident his side can go on to reach the final, but admits he will be devastated if this happens and the new Wembley Stadium is not completed in time to welcome them there.

While Arsenal missed a host of influential players, so did Bolton, due to a injuries and the African Cup of Nations, yet Allardyce has forged a winning attitude within his side.

He said: “The players are all on top of their games at the moment and earning their money. If the draw is kind to us we might be capable of going all the way to the final. This, for me, is a reachable goal for us this year.

“Mind you, if we did get to the final and the new stadium wasn’t ready then I’d be absolutely gutted.

“This record we have at the Reebok this season is fantastic and I don’t think anyone will fancy taking us on here. We have turned ourselves into a good cup team. It could catch up with us in the end but we have to try and keep going.”