The Gunners beat Wigan 2-0 at The Emirates on Tuesday night to reach the semi-finals of the competition. But they missed several good chances before they took the lead on the stroke of half-time through an own goal from Latics skipper Antolin Alcaraz. Wigan lost Victor Moses to a suspected dislocated shoulder and Nicklas Bendtner's close-range effort on 67 minutes kept Wenger's men on course for a first trophy since 2005. Manchester United's shock 4-0 defeat at West Ham now leaves the Gunners as hot favourites for the competition. However, Wenger insisted: "You have seen it in the Premier League, and with West Ham, it can happen to Manchester United, to Chelsea and to us this season. "We have to accept there are no guarantees, even if we are in the semi-finals, that we will win the trophy - you have to fight in every single game to win." Wenger added: "The supporters always want more, which is completely natural. "You cannot say that [a first trophy] is not important, but we should also not make obsession of that. "We want to focus on the quality of our performances, and the rest will be the consequences of those performances. "The major trophies are the Champions League and the [domestic] championship, but if we can win this as well, we will take it. "We want to win trophies and be at the top, but you can only do as well as you can. "At the moment, we are at the end of November and are in quiet a good position in all of the competitions." Wenger had made several changes for the quarter-final, including starts for Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Bendtner. The Arsenal manager felt his much-changed team produced a composed display. "We are in the semi-final, and did the job on a cold night when we did not give chances away," Wenger said. "We wanted to qualify and give some competition to some players who needed it, so we achieved both targets." For van Persie, it was a first start since the end of August as the Dutch forward continued his rehabilitation from an ankle injury. Wenger said: "Robin showed his class, and still needs games because he has been out for a long time. "It was positive he played for 70 minutes tonight and let's hope he has no reaction, then he will become stronger and stronger." Arsenal were still without injured captain Cesc Fabregas, who has a hamstring problem, and may struggle to recover in time for the trip to Old Trafford on December 13. Wenger said: "It is impossible to say at the moment. "It is not a big injury, but we have to wait. "In the next three days, we will know more." The Gunners boss, though, insists he has no need to strengthen in January. He said: "We made nine changes and still have players out injured or rested. "I do not know where to put the players - to buy players you have to give them a chance and we already have fantastic international players who do not get enough games." Latics boss Roberto Martinez felt his side had shown great character, but admitted they were always up against it. To add to their disappointment, striker Mauro Boselli limped off with a knee problem, while Moses could be out for up to six weeks. "It has been a great competition for us, but today was probably a game too many," Martinez said. "There were a couple of performances from players like James McArthur, Ben Watson and youngster Callum McManaman, which were positive, but it was a tough night." Martinez, though, insisted his squad would bounce back as they battle for Premier League survival. "Sometimes you need to earn your own luck, and I don't want us to be a team which feels sorry for ourselves. "Now is one of the key moments, we need to regroup and act like men. "We are short in numbers, but not in character. "It would be very easy to feel sorry for ourselves, but if we carry on working with levels have been showing, luck can change very quickly."
