Arsenal's Bacary Sagna Still Haunted By League Cup Final Loss To Birmingham City: 'We Crapped Ourselves & I Will Never Digest How We Managed To Lose In All My Life'

The French full-back is yet to return to action from a broken leg, but hailed the expected return of Thierry Henry to the club, whilst ruing February's defeat at Wembley

By Edward Tibbles

Bacary Sagna, Arsenal
Getty

Bacary Sagna has revealed that he is still haunted by the League Cup loss to Birmingham City, suggesting that Arsenal did not have the mettle to break their trophy drought.

A late mistake between Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny allowed Obafemi Martins to snatch a late winner for Alex McLeish's side at Wembley in February of last year.

The French full-back has suggested that the defeat led fans to lose confidence in the side, whilst also joking that his lack of success in cup finals may have been a bad omen for the Gunners.

Sagna told L’equipe: “When we've got close to winning something, like the League Cup with Arsenal last season, we've fallen from high.

“I will never digest that in all my life. It was inconceivable to lose that match. Everyone was waiting, but we crapped ourselves. We can lose, but not playing like that.

“I've thought about it for a long time. It's at that moment we began to sink. We were so disappointed, the fans were so disappointed, and they lost confidence in us.

"I am maybe the black cat! It's frustrating. I had the chance to win the Coupe de France with Auxerre [in 2005].”

Sagna's luck has continued to fall short after breaking his leg earlier this season, and he is yet to return for Arsenal, but confirmed that his recovery is on track.

"I'm feeling well, starting to run again and I’ll be able to use the ball in a few days,” he said.

"I have screws in my leg and I don't think I’ll remove them. It would mean 2 months more off the field so if I can deal with it.

"When I got injured, people told me i would be out for 3 or 4 months, I’m on time.

"I knew very quickly that it was serious. I heard something breaking and i thought it was ligaments, and then I watched my leg, because I thought it was like what happened to Djibril [Cisse]. Fortunately, my leg was in the right place, but later, tests revealed that it was broken.

"During 6 weeks, I couldn't put my foot on the floor, I was depending on everyone, it was really hard, I was useless."

The 28-year-old also hailed the imminent loan return of Thierry Henry to the club, suggesting the Gunners legend will provide a massive boost to the side.

"He'll be ready, he'll give everything. He'll have an impact on us and on the opposite team.

"He's always looking for perfection. He knows the way to win trophies. When he'll speak, everybody will listen. It's the big event of 2012!"

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