Aaron Ramsey says Arsenal must match Reading’s intensity and work-rate in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final.
The Royals are facing their first Premier League opponents in this season’s competition, having beaten three Championship teams and League One side Bradford City en route to Wembley.
This is the second year in succession that Arsenal are playing a team from the second tier at the semi-final stage, and Ramsey says the team have learnt lessons from their hard-fought victory over Wigan Athletic in 2014.
"We just have to focus on ourselves and if we do that and manage ourselves correctly we will go through"
“That sort of pressure has gone because we won something last season, so there is no more of this nine years [without a trophy talk],” the midfielder said. “I suppose that’s sort of gone but we are big favourites and we have to go into the game switched on and ready for them, because anything can happen in these stages of the FA Cup.
“Their league form this season has been up and down, but anything can happen on the day. So we will have to start well, which we have been doing lately in games, and hopefully finish the job off.
“I think we probably did feel the pressure [against Wigan], obviously [because of] going for that period without a trophy and it was a big build-up before the game.
“And maybe in the game we did feel that pressure. Then obviously going down and coming back and going through on penalties in the end, it was a bit of a nervy game for us.
“But we got through in the end and then we went on to win it, and we haven’t got that sort of pressure on us now. We just have to focus on ourselves and if we do that and manage ourselves correctly we will go through.”
Aaron Ramsey scores in the FA Cup final
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