Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes his side beating Sutton United 2-0 in the FA Cup on Monday night was important to build his players' confidence.
The Gunners headed into the match at Gander Green Lane against the non-league outfit on the back of a 5-1 mauling at Bayern Munich last week, which has all but ended their Champions League adventure for the season.
Wenger's men were firm favourites to avoid an upset against Sutton on the artificial pitch at the non-league outfit and eased to victory with goals from Lucas Perez (26th minute) and Theo Walcott (55th minute), who scored his 100th goal for the Gunners.
The Arsenal boss, whose side will now play another non-league team in Lincoln City in the quarter-final, admitted he did not enjoy the evening due to the banana skin nature of the tie, but he does feel the victory was vital to build confidence.
"We did the job. It is very different I must say on this kind of pitch. It was not an easy game at all", Wenger said on BBC One.
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"We have to give them credit because every error we made they took advantage of on this pitch. Yes, [Sutton were better than I expected]. They played very well.
"It is basically division five and when I arrived here 20 years ago in division five they were not as fit physically as they were today. They did not drop their level throughout the game.
"They were organised and had a huge desire. If we were not mentally prepared we would not have gone through.
"I don't really enjoy tonight because we absolutely had to do the job and it is tricky", Wenger explained.
"It is important for the confidence of the players.
"At Bayern we were 1-1 and then in the second half it all went wrong so at half time today at 1-0 up it was not finished."
With Arsenal staring a Champions League exit in the face and ten points off Chelsea in the Premier League, the FA Cup represents the club's most realistic chance of silverware this season.
Wenger has led Arsenal to success in the FA Cup on six occasions.
