Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is desperate for a confidence boost at Manchester United on Saturday.

ust two weeks ago the Gunners were still in the running on four fronts but they then gifted Birmingham a late winner in the Carling Cup final before being dumped out of the Champions League by Barcelona on Tuesday night.

A harsh red card for Robin van Persie put paid to Arsenal's hopes in the Camp Nou as their 10 men could not prevent Barca booking their place in the quarter-finals.

Wenger's men are still in the Premier League title race and visit leaders United in the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend.

And after the setbacks against Birmingham and Barca, Wenger accepts his players could do with a positive result at Old Trafford to lift their spirits.

"We need it, I must say, because we need help," he said.

"We have been touched severely recently and we are of course chasing after a win of that type.

"I have said since the start of the season that we will go for all of the competitions.

Right attitude

"We have got two left and we lost one in the last minute. We played another against the super favourite of the Champions League and we lost under special circumstances.

"We need to keep the right attitude to turn the luck around on our side a little bit.

"We are disappointed, but we want to focus on our next target, and we have big targets in front of us."

Captain Cesc Fabregas was rushed back into action in midweek and suffered a recurrence of his hamstring problem.

That has ruled him out for the weekend and Wenger feels the Spanish star could struggle to make Arsenal's Premier League game at West Brom the following Saturday.

"I don't have any regrets about playing him," insists Wenger. "He said he was fit. When Cesc Fabregas is fit, you play him.

"Cesc is very disappointed because it is becoming a little bit of a problem for him to have a recurrence of his hamstring, but it's a very superficial one."