Arsenal v Swansea:Captain Thomas Vermaelen is adamant Arsenal can still achieve their FA Cup "destiny" as they prepare to take on Swansea in a third-round replay at the Emirates Stadium tonight.

The Gunners were lambasted as “timid” by manager Arsene Wenger after going down 2-0 at home to Manchester City on Sunday.

However, with a fourth-round tie at Championship side Brighton awaiting the winners of this tie, hopes of ending an eight-year trophy drought could well be rekindled if Arsenal can find their form against the Swans.

Vermaelen was an unused substitute at the Liberty Stadium last weekend, but the Belgian centre-back saw enough from his side’s showing in the 2-2 draw – when they had fought back well to lead going into the final three minutes — to be confident of a positive conclusion.

“Looking at the Swansea game in its entirety, I think we deserved to win. We had plenty of chances and I don’t think anybody could have complained if we had gone through to the next round,” Vermaelen said.

“At 2-1 up that late in the game, you would like to see it through. It is never nice to concede in the final few minutes, but we will look forward to the replay and feel that our FA Cup destiny lies in our own hands.”

Swansea could yet be heading to Wembley in the Capital One Cup, having beaten Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the first-leg of their semi-final.

With a trip to Chelsea on Sunday, Arsenal could certainly have done without tonight’s replay, where they will be without defender Laurent Koscielny after his red card against City and injured midfielder Mikel Arteta.

Wenger felt his men paid a heavy price for not closing out the tie after they had recovered from going behind to Michu’s goal just before the hour. “After going 2-1 up I felt we were a bit too nervous in some situations and lacked defensive serenity,” he said. “Hopefully this will change and we will gain some more confidence defensively.”