Wenger has faith in his tough tyros

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The Gunners host Blackburn on Monday knowing a victory would move move them five points clear at the top of the table, and Wenger believes his group of players have what it takes to stay the course over the next four months.

"The team as a whole had a personality and a mental toughness from the beginning of the season," said Wenger. "We were confronted with major problems and have shown resilience on every occasion."

The Arsenal boss continued: "My target is to get the best out of this team, that is where you see you job. We have to get the best out of them until the end of the season, and then we can let people judge how good we are or not."

Wenger believes Cesc Fabregas and the rest of his young Gunners have developed a maturity this season.

Combative midfielder Fabregas, 20, is a case in point - the Spaniard started the campaign in blistering form with seven goals from nine games and has developed a formidable partnership alongside Mathieu Flamini at the heart of the team.

Wenger believes Fabregas has been on a steep learning curve, with his football now attracting the headlines rather than his sometimes over-tenacious approach, which landed him in hot water when Arsenal hosted Blackburn in the FA Cup last season and he was involved in a confrontation with Rovers boss Mark Hughes.

Wenger, though, firmly believes those type of incidents are now behind the former Nou Camp trainee.

The Arsenal boss reflected: "They are all more mature now. Cesc is committed and you always like your players to have a winning attitude.

"Sometimes it can go a little bit over the top, but Cesc has behaved remarkably well this season - I cannot remember one incident. There was maybe a stage, for about six months, where he went a bit the wrong way, but he corrected that very well, without any special management from me."