Arsene Wenger has declared himself happy with the mental toughness shown by his Arsenal side in their 2-0 win over non-league Sutton United in the FA Cup.
The pressure was on the Gunners to progress through to the quarter-finals of the competition after losing heavily to Bayern Munich last week to see their European hopes left in tatters.
Wenger, who has faced growing calls to step down from his position following more than 21 years in charge, admits that it was tough to enjoy the trip to Gander Green Lane following recent results but was delighted to get the job done.
"We did the job. It is very different I must say on this kind of pitch. It was not an easy game at all," he told BBC Sport. "We have to give them credit because every error we made they took advantage of on this pitch. They played very well.
"It is basically division five and when I arrived here 20 years ago in division five they were not as fit physically as they were today. They were organised and had a huge desire. If we were not mentally prepared we would not have gone through today.
"I didn't really enjoy tonight because we absolutely had to do the job and it is tricky. It is important for the confidence of the players. At Bayern we were 1-1 and then in the second half it all went wrong so at half time today at 1-0 up it was not finished."
Arsenal will now face another National League side in the last eight of the competition - Lincoln City, who pulled off a shock result in beating Burnley at the weekend.
Daniel Lewis
