Hughes: Gunners are great

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes has tipped Arsenal's youngsters to become great footballers after watching the Arsenal youngsters dominate his team in the Carling Cup and lose 3-2. Wenger has often experimented with younger sides in the Carling Cup.

"They have the same mentality and they are very competitive. I think they can do very well, too," he said in The Sun.

"Their mentality is that they expect to win games and they don't just hope to win games.

"At United, lads such as (David) Beckham, (Paul) Scholes, (Gary) Neville and (Nicky) Butt all had that mentality.

"You could see it in them right from the time they were in the youth team. But I look at Arsenal's young players and I see that in them as well.

"They will always get the ball down and pass and move and create opportunities."

Hughes went on to highlight the depth of Arsenal's squad, while admitting his side were made to look second best on Tuesday.

"What Arsenal have are two excellent team," he continued.

"They have a first-choice team and another one which is made up of all the other exceptional players they have.

"It's not a case of a first team and reserves - they are all talented players. This team we've played are a talented side of individuals.

"They're maybe not as strong or cohesive as the first XI but that's because they have not played as many games together.

"They are very athletic and they can retain possession really well. We set out with a gameplan to play at a high tempo and put them under pressure.

"But we had to change because they were so impressive in the first 30 minutes."