A bittersweet victory at the Emirates

It was a good win yesterday for the Gunners at the Emirates but we could be counting the cost of the victory with both Fabregas and Walcott limping out of the match. Any game with Stoke is going to be a physical one but this is getting out of hand. I think Peter Walton is a decent referee but he certainly did not do justice to the Arsenal lads yesterday. It was not a dirty match but some of the tackles by the Stoke players were more than robust. How can you explain that there were only 4 yellow cards shown throughout the match with 2 of them going to Arsenal players. I counted the number of tackles Dean Whitehead had on the Arsenal players. In any other match or on the continent, he would have long been sent off.

Now that we are only 1 point from the leaders, there is genuine belief that we can challenge Manchester United for the title. I have always been confident of the lads. I feel the key to the success of our final run-in is so dependent on us winning the Carling Cup.

This is our chance of winning something for the first time since the FA Cup in 2005 and we have to take it. We are the overwhelming favorites and if we do not take this opportunity, I fear that the psychological damage will derail our challenge for not only the league but all the other competitions that we are still in.

I think we can manage without Walcott but it is going to be extra difficult to be without RVP, Koscielny and Cesc. We can only wait till tomorrow for the latest updates from the manager. till then, I am just keeping my fingers crossed