Kanu overcomes the doubters

Kanu revealed his determination to secure his future at Arsenal after overcoming murmurings of discontent in the Highbury crowd to emerge as the match-winner against Bolton.

Kanu, who struggled to impress in the first half after replacing the popular Dennis Bergkamp in the side, thanked his team-mates for rallying around him.

He duly emerged as the hero as he forced the ball home in a goalmouth scramble deep into injury-time to record his first goal of the season in the 2-1 win.

Now Kanu is keen to put an end to various rumours that he is seeking to leave Highbury because of his frustration at not starting enough games.

The striker, who was making his third start of the campaign against Bolton, insisted: “I’m happy here.

"The coach is behind me, the fans all love me and I’m happy in London so I don’t want to leave.

“It does frustrate me a bit as I’m just working hard and trying to get into the team. You hear things and it makes you feel a bit down.

“Those things have upset me. When I want to leave, I’ll tell everyone that it’s time to go but I still want to win the Champions League with the team.”

Kanu insisted he had not doubted himself even when elements of the crowd started to get on his back in the first half when passes went astray.

“I have belief in myself and confidence that I can do well. From the start of the second half, I got into the game,” he added.

“I must thank the players as they kept on saying, ’You can do more than you are doing’.

“When I saw Thierry going for the ball, I got in behind him and then when I saw it in front of me, I made sure that I put it in the net.

“It was a great relief. At the end of the whistle, I was the hero again, which is very nice, as are the three points for the team.

“It’s always good when you start after being on the bench. We have a lot of strikers and, whenever you play, you want to do well for the team and yourself.”

Wenger praised Kanu for his “character” and the way that he had won round the fans on the day, even if some still have reservations about his long-term future as one of five strikers.

The Arsenal boss insisted: “Kanu has shown he can cope with it. He has turned the fans round and now everybody will chant his name. That’s the best thing you can do.

“I am happy for him as he had a difficult start to the game but became better and better and in the end he made the difference,

“He has shown that he’s a strong guy. He started a little bit slowly and it was difficult for him to find his position on the pitch, but he became stronger and stronger as the game went on.

“I felt the team would need his body strength in the box. He either gets other people to score or scores himself.”