On paper, tonights Caraboa Cup game against Doncaster Rovers looks like a piece of cake for even a second-string Arsenal side, especially with players like Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in the team.
But the Donny boss Darren Ferguson, who’s father obviously had a great rivalry with Arsene Wenger, is adamant that his side are not just going to turn up just to make up the numbers. “Stranger things have happened,” he said. “Us going there and winning the game would be a shock, of course it would, but that’s what we’re aiming to do. We’re not going there for a night out. We’re going to try and get a result.
“We appreciate it’s going to be difficult but first things first we’ve got to think ‘how do we want to play?’, get a performance, be good on and off the ball and see where it takes us.
“If you were to play Arsenal for the next ten games you’re not going to beat them more than they beat you. That’s an obvious thing to say. “But it’s a one-off game and you never know.”
“We’ve got to stay in the game for as long possible but we don’t want to defend all game so we’ve got to be good on and off the ball. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got good distances and really good communication is vital.
“When we get the ball we need to be good with it and cause them problems. “We have to be patient and appreciate we won’t control the ball. We’ve got to be really dogged off the ball and defend one versus one situations against quality players.”
He is right of course, anything can happen in a one-off cup game, but surely we shouldn’t start worrying about losing with all those stars in the side?
Admin