Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has pledged to attack AC Milan in the Champions League last 16 second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, as the English side look to overturn a 4-0 first-leg defeat.
The Gunners have been in great form of late, beating Tottenham and Liverpool in their last two league games, and the French coach is refusing to accept that European elimination is a forgone conclusion.
“Basically, I have only two midfielders fit, that is Alex Song and Tomas Rosicky, which means we have to play with four strikers,” Wenger said in a press conference, published in The Telegraph.
“I can play six strikers if I want. I have enough strikers. I can take a risk because I have no choice.
“Even if they should score, we have to ignore it and continue going. We have to gamble a bit and go forwards, opening ourselves up a bit.
“I have a gut feeling they can do it and my job until kick-off is to convince them they can do it. In the last two home games against Tottenham and Blackburn we scored 12. There is a real possibility,” he defied.
Wenger did accept that it will take something special to salvage the tie against the Italian champions, but is trying to instil belief in his players ahead of the game.
“I don’t live in a dream world. I know we have not created an easy situation.
“But when you are a top level competitor, even if statistically we have a five per cent chance, what is important is that we believe that we can be in this five per cent. Let’s make sure that we do not miss our chance because we did not believe in it,” he concluded.
By Gareth McKnight
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