The Gunners needed to dig deep to progress to the last four with a 3-2 extra-time win, after going 2-0 up in the first half.

Wenger, who confirmed he will continue to pick his emerging players in the remainder of the league cup competition, told Sky Sports: "We want to finish the job we started last year.

"We have a good opportunity now - in the semi-finals."

The Gunners are at that stage for the third successive season, having lost to Chelsea in last season's final - and Wenger is starting to think they have it in them to go one better.

"This was a big test. They [Blackburn] came back to 2-2 and were very committed," he said, reflecting on a match in which Roque Santa Cruz scored the two home goals and Arsenal had to play extra time with 10 men after Denilson was sent off for a foul on David Dunn.

"When our football was not speaking any more we had to do something else - and we found the resources to score a third goal with 10 men, which is really promising for such young players," Wenger added.

Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner was similarly heartened by his and his team-mates' resilience.

"We've been in the semi-finals and final over the last two years, and this time we want to go for it and win it," he said.

"I thought it was a very hard game. We thought everything was going well, but Blackburn got back into it and gave us a really tough game.

"I thought we kept playing quite well, we fought and won it."