'It's the best Arsenal squad for years'

Mikel Arteta believes that Arsenal’s current squad is one of the best Arsene Wenger has ever had.

The Gunners struggled with injuries at the start of the season but have been in scintillating form recently, winning 16 of their last 18 games.

Arteta will miss Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final clash against Reading, but believes Arsenal have enough quality to return to the final.

“We are very determined now and we believe that we can beat any team,” the captain said. “We have a little of the arrogance that you need before the game, where you are sure if you do the right things you will win the game.

“We’ve got the best squad that we’ve had for years - since I’ve been here, for sure the best squad in numbers and quality. We’re in a really good position now compared to where we were in November.

“The experience last year was a bit stressful because we were the big dogs and we had to win it,” he added. “In the semi-final and the final things went against us at the start and we had to get back into the game to win from a losing position.

“That was a big experience and this week we have prepared really well, we know a lot about Reading’s threats and where we can hurt them, and I think everybody’s going to be very aware because we don’t want to go through that again. If we can score early, it will be much better.”