Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini has acknowledged that their experience of having competed in the FA Cup final last year will hold them in good stead when they play Aston Villa this weekend.

The Gunners defeated Hull City in the final at Wembley last season to collect their first trophy in nine years. However, they were given a tough fight by Hull in the summit clash. Arsenal had a nightmare start as the Tigers went 2-0 ahead by the eighth minute of the game.




Santi Cazorla and Laurent Koscielny scored once each to push the match into extra time, where a 109th minute strike from Aaron Ramsey won the match for Arsene Wenger’s men.

This season the Gunners are due to face Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa in the final at Wembley on 30th May and Flamini feels that Arsenal’s experience of last season's final will hold them in good stead.
 


“For us to go another year to Wembley and to have the opportunity to win it again of course is a lot of pleasure”, he told his club’s site.

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“We have more experience and we have to make sure we at least try not to make the same mistakes as we did last year.

“We all agree it was a nightmare but we have more experience.

“We make sure to learn from our mistakes and not to do it again because we made it very difficult for ourselves last year. We will try to make it more simple and easier.

“It was a difficult situation going many years without winning a trophy for such a big club. It went well and we finally won the FA Cup. This year we have the possibility to do it again.

“There’s less pressure this year but we really want to do well and to confirm we are a team with a lot of quality.

“It's never easy to win a final.”

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