Wojciech Szczesny is confident Arsenal can turn the tables on Championship side after first-leg defeat

ARSENAL goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is confident the Gunners can overturn their first-leg deficit against Ipswich Town and reach their first cup final for four years.

The shock 1-0 defeat to the Championship side at Portman Road earlier this month has left Arsenal in genuine danger of missing out on a Carling Cup final against either West Ham or Birmingham City.

The Tractor Boys head to the Emirates for tomorrow’s second leg intent on defending the lead given to them by Tamas Priskin’s second-half goal.

But Szczesny, the 20-year-old Pole who is making an impressive argument to be Arsenal’s No1, insisted: “We are confident we will do it.

“At Ipswich it was just one of those days where nothing would go in and they did well to defend and score on the counter-attack.

“So we were disappointed with the result but we knew we can bounce back. I said that straight after the game. We are Arsenal football club and are confident we can beat everybody.

“We are playing a Championship team at the Emirates, I am sure they won’t fancy that too much, and we fancy our chances that we will go through.

“They have a one-goal advantage so they will probably try to defend it, but we just have to break them down and then score as many goals as we can.”

Szczesny admitted that a hectic run of games that has already seen the Gunners play seven times in January is taking its toll on the players, but believes they are showing that they can cope with the workload.

“It’s very tiring, all the travelling and playing every three days but this is our job, and we love our job,” added Szczesny.

“We have been playing twice a week every week for a long time now, but you can’t fault the attitude. We always give our best.

“For me I enjoy the run of games. There will be some tired legs sooner or later but we just hope we can get the results we want.

“We want to win every single competition we are in. We want to play our best in every single game and hopefully we can win a trophy this season,” added Szczesny, who is currently the only fit first-team goalkeeper at the club with both Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski out injured.

Islington-born rookie James Shea has been on the subs’ bench for the last three games, but Szczesny is staking a claim to be the permanent No1, even when Fabianski recovers from a shoulder problem which will rule him out of the second leg against Ipswich.

“Every single game is a chance for me,” added Szczesny, who joined Arsenal from Legia Warsaw as a 16-year-old in 2006. “I want to do my best in every single game and I will leave the decisions to the manager.

“The manager shows faith in me so I must be ready – and any time I get a chance I will try to prove him right.

“I am treating every game the same, it doesn’t whether it’s at Old Trafford or on loan at Brentford with 2,000 people there. I treat it the same and try to do my best.”