Arsenal's League Cup final defeat haunts Wenger

Arsene Wenger will driven by the pain of defeat in the Carling Cup final to Birmingham last season when Arsenal host Bolton in the League Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.

Arsenal were poised to end a six-year trophy drought in February but Obafemi Martins' 89th-minute goal shattered the dreams of the Gunners.

This defeat will haunt the Arsenal manager forever more than the 8-2 humiliation they suffered at the hands of Manchester United at the start of this season.

Wenger admits he is spurred on by the anguish of their last campaign, having come within a whisker of winning their first trophy since 2005.

"It will hurt me forever because we never forget disappointments," he said. "That's part of life at a managerial level, you do not only have successes but disappointments too.
 
"People forget that we did fight very hard to get there and overall we produced great performances in the Carling Cup last year. That's very important as well.
 
"There is hunger in this team no matter what competition. We want to do well in the Carling Cup, the championship, the Champions League, in every single competition.
 
"I don't question the hunger of my team, they have an exceptional attitude. You can see now at the Emirates that our fans are behind the team because the attitude of the players is right."
 
Wenger has been boosted this week by the return of Thomas Vermaelen from a two-month lay-off. The Belgium international has been out with an Achilles injury but could feature at the Emirates on Tuesday, even if only as a substitute at this stage of his recovery.
 
With one eye on Saturday's derby at Chelsea, Wenger is expected to rest the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Robin van Persie. Fringe players such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Francis Coquelin, Emmanuel Frimpong and Park Chu-Young are likely to receive valuable game time as a result.

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