'You don’t choose when you commit'

Arsene Wenger insists that Arsenal are taking the FA Cup as seriously as ever ahead of Saturday’s third-round tie against Sunderland.

The Gunners retained the trophy last season to become the most successful club in the competition’s history with 12 wins.

Sam Allardyce says he will give Sunderland’s fringe players a chance at Emirates Stadium, and Wenger is convinced that Arsenal will “give absolutely everything” to reach the next round of the competition.

“We want to win every competition we participate in,” he said. “The FA Cup is one of them, for us it is an important competition. Confidence is a global thing and you can’t really separate it from one competition to another.

“My energy is about giving absolutely everything to win the next game. The next game is the FA Cup. For us it is a very important competition as always.

"We just this week had the semi-finals of the League Cup. The teams gave absolutely everything. I saw Everton against Manchester City and it was a top-class game. That’s what you want - the teams to commit. At our level, you do not choose when you commit and when you don’t.

“This is a serious competition. I’ve won the FA Cup six times - that means I take it seriously. In the whole history, nobody won it more. That means as well that it’s not so easy to win it. You want to feel as well that your team is ready for every single challenge and the FA Cup is one that matters to us.”