Arsenal confident ahead of Hull trip

Aaron Ramsey says that Arsenal will resume their FA Cup defence at Hull City on Tuesday with confidence restored following Saturday’s 2-2 draw with north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsene Wenger’s side had come in for heavy criticism after back-to-back defeats had seen them fall away in the Premier League title race, prompting Alexis Sanchez to claim that some of his team-mates lacked the hunger to be champions.

But the way the Gunners recovered after falling behind to claim a point at Spurs, despite being reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Francis Coquelin, offered signs that they have the resolve to end the season on a high.

And the prospect of becoming the first team to win the FA Cup for a third successive season since the 19th century will provide an additional incentive to overcome Championship promotion hopefuls Hull in the fifth-round replay.

Welsh midfielder Ramsey, the scorer of his side’s opening goal at White Hart Lane with a clever back-heel, said: “I think we needed a performance like that after the couple of defeats that we’ve had. We needed to come here and get something and we managed to do that with 10 men.

“I think we needed a result at Spurs. We would have liked to have won the game, but it was important just to get a result.

“We’ve had two defeats, so we’re happy to come away with a point in the end, considering the circumstances.”

Arsenal’s Per Mertesa-cker echoed Ramsey’s views, albeit in more sarcastic fashion. “We have to take care of ourselves,” said the Germany international. For a team with low confidence and no belief, we played pretty well. We just concentrate on ourselves and that’s the only way to compete and win games.”