Ex-Gunner Roarie Deacon has 'point to prove' against Arsenal in FA Cup

Former Arsenal youth player Roarie Deacon believes he has a point to prove against his old club when non-league Sutton United host the Gunners in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Monday.

Deacon, now 25, spent a decade at Arsenal until being released in the summer of 2011.

He then experienced life as a reserve team player at Sunderland, before moving to Stevenage and Crawley, and then on to Sutton last year.

He is a former England international at age group level and Deacon said: "I signed when I was nine and left when I was 19.

"My contract came to an end and I just had to move on which a lot of the young players had to do.

"Trying to bridge the gap from the reserves to the first team did not happen for me.

"You could say I have a point to prove. I always want to prove people wrong and wanting to do well and show everyone what I can do, so it is just another chance for me to do that against a fantastic team in front of the television cameras."

Deacon also paid tribute to under-fire Gunners' boss Arsene Wenger who takes his side to Gander Green Lane on Monday.

He added: "Wenger is a great manager and Arsenal are a great team. It's football at the end of the day and results don't go your way sometimes.

"Managers always have to deal with pressure and they have that pressure on their shoulders, but Wenger is such a great manager that he will most likely come through smiling on the other side."

But he believes his Sutton side can create a shock: "We do think we can win. We are not going into this game thinking we want this FA Cup run to end.

"It has brought so much attention to such a great club, with a great fan base. We just have to go out there, do what we do and not be overawed by the occasion.

Trying to bridge the gap from the reserves to the first team did not happen for me.

"We are going to play our game, not the occasion, and go out there, get the ball down and play, fight for every ball, fight for every tackle, fight for everything and hopefully when the referee blows the whistle it will be us celebrating with the fans.