Van Persie's Goal Drought Never Worried Me, Says Arsenal Boss

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said he was never worried about captain Robin van Persie's goal drought.

The Dutchman's goal in the 3-0 victory at Wolves in midweek was his first in the last five league matches. However, Wenger said he always knew the striker would score, although he did admit the striker himself would have been a little disappointed about the bad patch.

"It does not look like he is worrying but you know that a striker who has scored in every single game but then has a period he does not like it. But I am convinced that he thought about it. I didn't worry me at all, but the guys who score goals like to continue to score," Arsenal.com quoted Wenger as saying.

The manager said the fact that other players could contribute to the goals and win matches for the London club, when van Persie was not scoring, shows the strength of the team.

"We are on a strong run and if you look at our last 10 games, we are defensively more stable because we have kept a few clean sheets. We can score goals and Robin van Persie comes out of a period when he scored a bit less. We still managed to win the games, that is positive," the Frenchman said.

The club captain's goal on Wednesday meant that this season the striker has scored against 17 different teams - a Premier League record he now shares with Arsenal legend Ian Wright. Wenger is all praises for his influential captain.

"That is absolutely remarkable in the modern game to be able to do that. I'd like to congratulate him on that. When you only have 19 teams, and your striker has scored against 17 teams, that is something sensational," the Telegraph quoted the manager.

The only two teams who prevented van Persie from scoring against them this season have been Fulham and Manchester City. The striker hit the post twice against the Citizens when they visited Arsenal last week.

"He could have beaten the record if he had scored against Manchester City at the weekend," Wenger added.

With 27 league goals this season, van Persie leads the race for the Golden Boot and is five ahead of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. The Gunners captain is also eight in Arsenal's list of all-time top scorers, with 129 goals from 273 appearances.