Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal: Mark Hughes has insisted there is no lingering animosity with Cesc Fabregas - a mismatch, if ever there was one - going into tonight's FA Cup fifth-round replay between Blackburn Rovers and Arsenal at Ewood Park. Hughes has accepted Fabregas's apology before a tie in which the Blackburn manager hopes to put his theory to the test that Arsene Wenger's players "take defeat poorly".

Wenger's team will be under intense scrutiny at Ewood Park after their behaviour in the League Cup final against Chelsea and the increasingly spiky Fabregas is likely to receive a hostile reception following his finger-pointing row with Hughes after the original tie 11 days ago.

Angered by Blackburn's stifling tactics during a drab and prosaic scoreless draw, Fabregas confronted Hughes at the final whistle, telling him that a man who had once played for Barcelona should be ashamed of playing in such a negative fashion.

Fabregas, a graduate of the Barcelona youth academy, was later persuaded to apologise.

"We've put the matter behind us," said Hughes. "The young man came into our dressingroom to apologise. He meant it with sincerity, so I accepted it readily. He made the point that he wanted to win every game and when he couldn't he got frustrated. I can accept that.

"In fairness to him, he came in very, very quickly. I would have known if he wasn't being sincere but I could see that he meant it. It was a confidential conversation. We discussed the situation, how it arose, and the feelings behind it, and I accepted what he had to say. As far as I'm concerned, I've accepted his apology and put the matter to bed."

Hughes and his players have steadfastly refused to apologise about what their midfielder David Bentley admitted yesterday were "boring" tactics. But they have promised a very different approach tonight against a side that has already done the double over them in the league.

"We're at home now and there's a match to win," said the former Arsenal player, who has signed a new £30,000-a-week contract to keep him at Ewood Park until 2011.

"It always used to be 'boring, boring Arsenal', so it is strange. Yes, it was boring of us and we wouldn't want to play like that every week. But we went to Arsenal earlier in the season and they put six past us, so we couldn't let that happen again. We went there with a game plan and it worked really well.

"I just think Fabregas was being passionate. He wanted to win and something just boiled over. He came and apologised to the manager but none of us really took his comments seriously anyway."

Hughes was equally unapologetic. "We deserve to take a lot of credit from the way we played. We did an excellent job and I think we can take confidence from the way we restricted them to so few chances. Arsenal weren't happy about it. But that's the mentality at clubs like Arsenal. They don't take too kindly to defeats. And a 0-0 draw at home feels like a defeat to them."

Although incensed by Fabregas's complaints at the time, Hughes later declared himself a staunch admirer of a midfielder who is increasingly showing the kind of fighting spirit more associated with Patrick Vieira. At 19, Fabregas has arguably been Arsenal's most accomplished performer this season, so much so that he is a legitimate contender behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba for player of the year. Yet he is also developing a reputation as a serial offender in a team that is almost as famous for its questionable behaviour as it is its outstanding football. On Sunday the cherubic Spaniard could be seen grappling with Frank Lampard in the League Cup final.

The FA Cup was being shown off at Ewood Park yesterday although Hughes, a four-times winner, did not feel the need to have a look, pointing out that he had "lifted it a few times already".

Blackburn have not won the competition since 1928 and the winners tonight will be rewarded with a quarter-final at home to Manchester City.

"It's a big hurdle to negotiate but if we do it then we'd really fancy our chances," said Hughes.

Meanwhile, Wenger declared complete confidence in his young players as he prepared to throw them into action again tonight.

Captain Thierry Henry, Tomas Rosicky and Abou Diaby are sidelined through injury, while Fabregas is set to be rested. Add to that the suspension of Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor along with knocks to full-back Gael Clichy and Mathieu Flamini, Wenger would seem to have little option but to turn to his emerging players for cover.

But Wenger has no qualms about continuing with a policy which has so far served him well in both knockout competitions. "What these boys have done against Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and Chelsea on Sunday is not a coincidence," Wenger said. "To repeat top-level performances is never that, and that is why I have complete confidence in them."