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Matty who? Arsenal's Lukas Podolski admits he's never heard of Hull forward Fryatt
ARSENAL players may try to claim that they are treating Hull with all the respect they deserve heading into the FA Cup final on Saturday, but Lukas Podolski doesn’t even know who some of the Tigers players are.
Indeed, the German striker says he is not focussed on Hull at all because he believes the Gunners have the quality to win the game against any opponents if they play to the same level as they have in the last weeks of the season.
Asked about Matt Fryatt, who scored for Hull in the semi-final against Sheffield United, Podolski was baffled: “Who? Who is this?
“Our focus is on our game. We are strong enough. We play nearly at home [at Wembley] and I focus on our game. I don’t look at the names or how Hull is playing.
“I go out and this is the final game, this is 90 minutes of fighting and running and at the end we will see who the winner.
“I think when we play like the last weeks – how we’ve played at home and away – we’ll win this cup.”
And while Podolski says the nature of a one-off game means that upsets can happen, he believes that Arsenal’s favourites tag is justified.
Our focus is on our game. We are strong enough.
He added: “I don’t think they’re underdogs because when you are in a final you don’t have underdogs.
“We play against a strong team. I think they’ll give their all and they will fight until the end.
“Of course we are the favourites because we are the better team but it’s a final, it is one game and it’s not easy.
“It is one game and both teams are in the final.
“It’s like the World Cup or the European Championship, both teams are strong and it’s not about the games before or who loses the games before. It’s one game.”
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