March 20 (Reuters) - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta shook off the nerves ahead of Sunday's League Cup final against Manchester City, saying his team were determined to win their first silverware in six years.
The north London club have become the nearly men of English football in recent years, finishing second in the Premier League in the last three seasons, and have not won a major trophy since the 2020 FA Cup in Arteta's debut season.
But that long drought looks set to end with the possibility of a quadruple still alive.
They are nine points above second-placed City in the English top flight, are in the Champions League and the FA Cup quarter-finals and on Sunday at Wembley will start as favourites to secure the season's first silverware.
"When you have been in this position and years without a trophy, it adds more necessity but also more drive. That's something that we have, it's important for us and something we've been looking to achieve for a while," Arteta told reporters on Friday.
Arteta was an assistant coach at City when Pep Guardiola's side beat Arsenal at the League Cup final in 2018. City have won the Premier League six times since then, also lifting the FA Cup twice and the Champions League in 2022-23.
Asked if beating City on Sunday could work as a psychological boost and propel them to more trophies down the line, Arteta said it would be a massive moment for the players.
"We want it so much," the Spaniard said. "I'm really prepared and confident that we're going to make it happen. It's focused on that, basically, and that's it."
The 43-year-old denied being under extra pressure ahead of facing City, who have not beaten Arsenal in their last four meetings, although three of those matches ended in draws.
"Excited. Enthusiastic. Positive," Arteta said when asked about nerves.
With Arsenal unbeaten in their last 14 games in all competitions and arriving at the business end of the season with a full head of steam, talk of a quadruple has grown from a whisper to something that now looks achievable.
Not that Arteta was entertaining that thought yet, at least not out loud.
"No, we need to go game by game. Trophy by trophy," he said. "We are very excited about what we are doing and we need to continue to make the right strides and especially perform in the right way when those moments come to achieve what we want to start to build the momentum that we want as a club."
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru and Martyn Herman in LondonEditing by Christian Radnedge)
