Arsenal captain Robin van Persie has pinpointed the club’s 4-3 defeat at Ewood Park against Blackburn in September and has called for his teammates to bury that ghost, arsenal.com reports. The Dutchman saw his side let their lead slip, and score two owngoals in the process, and Arsenal face Rovers at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Gunners are 17 points behind league leaders Manchester City and have set themselves a more realistic target of getting into the Champions League places. Only one win in six Premier League games is not the best of form for the Gunners, but they are expected to get past Blackburn at the Emirates Stadium. Van Persie has been the best player for Arsenal this season and will be looking to continue his scoring in the league and add to his 19 goals in the league.
Van Persie said: ‘The game against Blackburn is a vital one in which to get our league form back on track. There’s also something we have to put right – our defeat up there in September was something that shouldn’t have happened in a million years. I still speak about it with the boys and in fact was talking with Mikel [Arteta] about it only a couple of weeks ago, because it was one of our most painful losses of the season and it still hurts to think about it.’
With Arsenal kicking off at lunchtime, they can go within two points of fourth placed Chelsea before the three teams above them play. Van Persie wants his side to play well and get the results needed as they look to push on in three competitions. The Gunners are still in the FA Cup and the Champions League, where they will face Italian side AC Milan in the second round later this month.
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