Van Persie hoping for a Cup date at Wembley

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The Dutch striker captained the Gunners and scored twice in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Plymouth that secured a round-four trip to last season's runners-up, Cardiff City.

Van Persie scored twice in the Welsh capital as Arsenal beat Blackburn at the Millennium Stadium to reach the 2005 Cup Final, where the 25-year-old was a late substitute as they beat Manchester United on penalties.

Arsene Wenger's side have not won any silverware since and with a tricky Champions League tie against Roma and a ten-point deficit to make up in the Premier League, the world's oldest cup competition is seen by many to represent Arsenal's best route to glory this season.

Van Persie said: "When we played in the FA Cup in my first year at the club, I scored two goals in the last eight minutes at the Cardiff stadium but it was always a dream for me to play in Wembley.

"It was still fantastic in front of 70,000 people but I have never played at Wembley."

Van Persie, a 2004 signing from Feyenoord for just £2.75million, joined the Gunners during their 'Invincibles' period, having won the League title undefeated, and admits three trophy-less seasons seemed a virtual impossibility at the end of his first year in north London.

He said: "At the time, I didn't think that would happen because they were winning trophies for fun.

"I came to the champions so I was expecting something like that but its not really happened in the last three years. It is not a reason for me to give up - it is a bigger challenge for me to do it."

Wenger is under pressure to act in the transfer window after a disappointing start to the season but the Arsenal manager claims he will not panic buy, despite overseeing a squad struggling with injuries.

"I feel that if we do add somebody, we add somebody who has a special class because we have good players, and players like Aaron Ramsey who show they can grow," said the Frenchman, who will be without defender Mikael Silvestre for three weeks due to a thigh problem picked up against Argyle.

"I would like to think longer term. If the right player comes in, even if he is not available for the Champions League, the class is more important for me."