Fuelling the fires of desire

No, not a cheesily written short story from Mills and Boon and that ilk, its sounding like the boys are up for it!

Defeats like Barcelona can go two ways; you can be up, more determined than ever and use that disappointment to fight harder than ever before. Or, you can shrink like a violet and let it suffocate you.

In the past, our young team certainly suffered from the latter, but from the noises we've been hearing its now the former that is indicative of the mood at London Colney today.

Johan Djourou has spoken of the shame of being Swiss following the performance of the Swiss referee and of his desire to get back to winning ways this weekend. Similar comments from Jack and Cesc seem to indicate an upbeat, determined squad.

We will face a determined ManYoo this weekend with lots to prove after their recent indifferent form and they will not want to lose to us.

Selfishly, I'd rather lose and let the boys concentrate fully on the league and leave the distraction of the FA Cup til next year.

However, since the opportunity presents itself we should take this olive branch for what it is. A chance to put down the marker against ManYoo and say 'we're better than you, we know it and we're gonna prove it'.

Ultimately, I think we have enough in the tank to do this. We'll just have to see what personnel Arsene picks.

WG