No doubting from Thomas

Vermaelen: Aiming for glory

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Arsenal centre-back Thomas Vermaelen has set his sights on UEFA Champions League glory after their five-star display against Porto.

The Gunners booked their place in the last eight of the competition as they overturned their 2-1 first leg deficit in emphatic fashion to progress 6-2 on aggregate.

Arsene Wenger's men have been written off on more than one occasion in the Premier League title race, but currently sit just two points adrift of leaders Manchester United and only trail Chelsea on goal difference, although the Blues have a game in hand.

Vermaelen is enjoying proving the club's critics wrong and sees no reason why they cannot be crowned champions of Europe.

"I'm convinced we can win this competition," the Belgium international said.

Focus

And the centre-back added: "We're been written off twice already I think.

"We're still in the race for both things, for the league and the Champions League, but you have to stay focused on every game and the next game is Hull City. You have to win every game.

"We will see at the end of the season. You have to focus every game and we will see where we are at the end."

Arsenal's resurgence has been without Robin van Persie after the Holland forward damaged ankle ligaments in November, while against Porto they were missing the influence of skipper Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas is rated as "50-50" by Wenger to face Hull at the KC Stadium at the weekend.

"Cesc is really important for us but we have a lot of good players in the squad who can fill in his place," Vermaelen said.

Responded

The emphatic 5-0 victory over Porto came courtesy of Nicklas Bendtner's hat-trick, three days after he missed four clear-cut chances in the victory over Burnley.

"As a striker you have to stay confident all the time because there are some games when you don't score and that was the case on Saturday," Vermaelen said.

"Against Porto he responded brilliantly. He didn't only score three goals, he won a lot of headers and that is important for the team.

"He doesn't struggle with confidence and that is a good thing for a striker. You always need a good centre-forward who scores goals for the team, he did that against Porto and I hope he will score a lot of goals in the future.

"He is still young, He has a lot of qualities - he's here at Arsenal so that means he has a lot of qualities."