And no one knows how good it feels to end the Gunners’ Carling Cup hopes better than Wayne Bridge.
The England left back was in the Chelsea side in 2007 that won the trophy at Wembley beating the North London side 2-1 in the process.
Bridge has warned that the Blues must not let their guard drop tomorrow against an Arsenal side that is likely to be packed with young talent but which will be hell bent on reversing the 4-2 league defeat suffered at CoMs earlier this season.
He insists winning the cup could be a catalyst for even greater things for the Blues.
“It used to be a competition that teams showed some indifference towards but you only have to look at the quarter final line up to realise that everyone wants to win the trophy and we are no different,” declared Bridge.
The final comes early in the season and can set teams up for a big finish. It is amazing the confidence that comes from hoisting some silverware.
...Wayne Bridge on Carling Cup...
“The quarter final is a big game even if Arsenal put their youngsters out. They are all going to have a point to prove to their manager and they will never stop running.
“We know that they have ability, too, having already knocked Liverpool out of the competition.
“But I came to City to try and win things and we have the chance to do that in this year’s Carling Cup. We are determined to take the opportunity.”
Bridge accepts that there is a general frustration following a sequence of seven draws and knows that the Blues have to become more watertight of that run is going to end in a positive.
“We have been disappointed with the draws,” he acknowledged. “Teams early in the season had to work hard to score goals against us and recently that hasn’t been the case. We have to defend better.
“If we had picked up a point here and there we would have been right up there in the top two or three. It has been disappointing but we are still in a good position and there is no lack of confidence in the squad.”
