Vermaelen expects Arsenal to fire

Thomas Vermaelen has backed his Arsenal team-mates to respond positively after a defeat by Premier League champions Manchester City and overcome Swansea City in their FA Cup third round replay.Michael Laudrup’s Swansea side will visit the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday hoping to repeat their December league victory against the Gunners and set up a fourth round trip to face Championship club Brighton. They will arrive in north London to play an Arsenal side still smarting from a 2-0 defeat by City that left Arsene Wenger’s side sixth place in the table and a huge 21 points adrift of leaders Manchester United. Vermaelen is convinced the prospect of such an important game will bring out the best in Wenger’s team. ‘There are a lot of big, big fixtures coming up against good teams,’ said the Belgium international. ‘Big games. And this (match against City) was the first one, we wanted to have a good start and that is why it is more disappointing we could not get a good result. ‘But against Swansea, I am confident the group will respond on this defeat, and I’m confident we can get a result.’

Swansea will arrive in good form, unbeaten in seven games form mid-December and includes the 2-0 victory at Chelsea in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.