Arsene Wenger has confirmed he is confident of finalising talks with the club's board over a new contract and he has backed his young and largely unfancied squad to make their mark on the Premier League.

The club's supporters will be grateful for those words of comfort, particularly with regard to his own future.

The departure of Thierry Henry to Barcelona this summer and, more significantly, the shock resignation of former vice-chairman David Dein towards the end of last season had raised question-marks over the Frenchman's own position, especially as his contract expires next summer.

Wenger - who has been repeatedly linked with a move to Real Madrid - had remained quiet on his prospects but he broke cover to insist that he expects to agree new terms soon and cited the potential of his current squad as one of his chief motivations.

"We are talking and usually when we talk, there is always a positive outcome," he said. "At the moment, nothing is done but hopefully soon.

"It looks to me that there are more doubts from outside the club than ever before but we have a strong belief, a great desire for success, a great togetherness and we are very hungry. And the fact that everyone doubts about us reinforces that.

"We believe we can win the league. That's our ambition and it's a justified ambition. We are hungry, we have a great belief and we are ready to go into the season with that desire."

The only cloud on Wenger's horizon is a potentially draining fixture schedule that sees Arsenal face five matches in the first 17 days of the new season.

The Gunners manager is particularly irked at having to squeeze in a double-headed Champions League qualifier against Sparta Prague while his title rivals have the chance of building up a sizeable lead in the Premier League.

"The two teams that have a Champions League qualifier have a disadvantage," he said. "The others play another Premier League game so you are already chasing to get the points back.

"You can be in the middle of the table if you don't win the first or second games and that's, psychologically, a big disadvantage. It's unfair to do that because it doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.

"The solution is not to have Premier League games in midweek. Why could we not start this season one week earlier? Why could we not have played the Champions League qualifier this past week?"

Wenger's mood should be soothed against Fulham, although Lawrie Sanchez's 20 million pounds spending spree has raised expectations in southwest London.

Sanchez and his ambitious chairman Mohamed Al Fayed expect more than a relegation scrap this season.

"My expectations are for us to be a very good side that aren't just making up the numbers in the Premier League," Sanchez said. "We don't want the same situation as last season and there has been a major change of personnel this summer to avoid that.