Ray Parlour: 'Arsenal desperately need a trophy'

Ray Parlour has claimed that Arsenal must win the FA Cup if they are to have any chance of challenging for the Premier League title next season.

The Gunners will be hoping to end their nine-year trophy drought when they take on Hull City in the final on Saturday.

Parlour has admitted that there will be a huge amount of pressure on the players to win silverware, but the experience can help them to achieve further success in the future.

"The criticism of Arsene Wenger is odd as he's done a wonderful job," Parlour told the Evening Standard. "I played under him for eight years and he was a great manager day to day always getting you to improve as a player every day. I can understand the transfer policy has upset supporters who want to compete with the big teams and sign the big guys.

"For me, though, it's more about the players. They desperately need a trophy. It's great to say that the club have qualified for the Champions League for the past 18 seasons but what about the trophies? It's no good coming fourth in the league every year. The players have to strive towards winning everything.

"It'd be great for the players that haven't won anything. I think there's a lot of pressure on them and they need to show they can handle that pressure which they've often failed to do in the big games against the big sides. To have any chance of every winning the league they need to be able to handle the pressure, which will be huge on Saturday."

Arsenal can equal Manchester United's record of 11 victories in the FA Cup final with a win this weekend.