Arsene Wenger Praises Nicklas Bendtner

11 Mar 2010

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger expressed delight at his striker Nicklas Bendtner's performance in Arsenal's 5-0 win over Porto, praising his mental strength and resolve.

Bendtner was slated for his poor showing in Saturday's win over Burnley, where he missed a series of chances. However, he he came out swinging and responded by leading Arsenal to more than convincing win in the Champion's League last eight on Tuesday.

"It shows you how football can change very quickly," said Wenger.

"He came back with good focus and the same belief - that is one of his strengths as well."

"Nicklas had not lost the confidence, it remains relatively stable," added Wenger.

Arsenal overturned a 2-1 first-leg deficit, going on to beat Porto 5-0 with a 6-2 victory on aggregate. Bendtner scored twice in the first half, capping off his performance with a late penalty.

It was the first hat-trick of Bendtner's career and the Denmark international insisted that his poor finishing on Saturday had not damaged his self-belief.

"Every game I play I put it behind me as soon as it is finished," said the 22-year-old.

"Sometimes it is one of those days and against Porto I put it right. I am happy with the hat-trick but tomorrow we move on."

The Arsenal boss also applauded Samir Nasri who also scored for the Gunners after putting in a brilliant performance.

"What he has shown in the game, he has shown in training and I have expected that to come out," said Wenger.

“He has talent and now he starts to be efficient - great players can assist and score goals, he is starting to do that now.

"We played fluent football with a positive start and the early goals gave us the belief we needed. We suffered a bit when we did not control the game at the start of the second half when we were not focused enough.

Arsenal are due to play Hull on March 13th with Paddy Power and Stan James offering 2/5 odds of the Gunners continuing their winning ways.