Robin van Persie: It’s an advantage Arsenal are out of the Champions League

CL, Arsenal and Barcelona, Robin van Persie (Getty Images)

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Robin van Persie insists being knocked out of three competitions in a fortnight can be an advantage to Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners lost the League Cup final 2-1 to Birmingham City at the end of February before being falling to defeats against Barcelona in the Champions League and Manchester United in the FA Cup, meaning they can now only win the Premier League.

And although the striker admits it was a “real blow” to exit the competitions, he insists Arsene Wenger’s men can now concentrate on winning the league.

“It’s a real blow that we threw away three trophies within the space of only three weeks. However, we still have another big objective and that’s winning the Premier League title,” he said.

“We’re five points behind Manchester United, but have a game in hand, so we can narrow the gap to two points. It’s actually an advantage that we’re no longer active in other competitions, so we won’t get distracted. We still have everything in our own hands and will do our utmost to win the league title, even though we have been dealt a few big blows in recent weeks.”

Van Persie, who was sent off in the 3-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Nou Camp, hopes Arsenal can learn from their mistakes.

“It felt really good when we were 2-1 up against Barcelona, but it was all the more painful that we were eventually eliminated. However, this is football and it’s still a great sport. I don’t feel like our loss was an injustice. These kinds of things are all part of the game,” he said.

“Birmingham beat us in the final, but then lost the following four league games. The Premier League has been absolutely crazy this year. I hope that we learned something from the lost final, but you never know whether you actually did. When something goes wrong the first time, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will go better the next time.”

Van Persie is currently away on international duty with the Netherlands, and says he is looking forward to the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Hungary.

The striker said: “We beat them 6-1 last time, but we shouldn’t use that game as the standard. We were preparing for the World Cup back then, while they were basically on holiday already. They’re a good team and shouldn’t be underestimated. However, if we beat them twice in the coming days, we’ve all but secured qualification for Euro 2012.”

The 27-year-old is widely expected to be part of the starting line-up on Friday because of the absence of first choice striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but Van Persie isn’t sure yet that he will start.

He added: “Everybody has a chance to prove his worth and we’re all hoping to get playing time. We’ll have to wait and see who will play on Friday. Even the absolute star players have to prove their worth again and again.”