Ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final, Aaron Ramsey tackled a range of questions from the media at Arsenal’s London Colney training base.

We’ve transcribed the full press conference (aside from some guff about Wales’ qualifiers) during which he reflected on last year’s winner against Hull City, the squad’s improvement against big sides, the threat posed by Aston Villa and why talk of a move to Barcelona doesn’t interest him.

On scoring the winner last year and looking forward to this year’s final…

I’m really looking forward to it. Obviously playing in the final is where we want to be as professional footballers and it’s another opportunity to win the FA Cup. To score the winner last year was just a dream come true. Hopefully I can repeat that again.

On whether he’s improved as a player this year…

I think I’ve grown up even more and learned some more things. Hopefully I’m always improving throughout my career. That’s what I want to achieve.

On the threat of Christian Benteke…

He’s been in great form of late. It’s been a difficult season for Villa but they did manage to stay up in the end. They’ve shown good form towards the back end of the season and he was in amongst all the goals. He’s going to be a big threat on the day.

On overcoming injuries…

I’ve been through a lot in my career so far and I’m still only 24. There’s still so much to achieve and win so that’s what I’ll be aiming to do. Hopefully we can win something, the FA Cup, and that will be two trophies in two years. Hopefully we can then keep things going.

On last year’s rollercoaster final against Hull…

Obviously we were 2-0 down and starting to question whether it’d be our day. I felt there was a lot of time to get back into the game and obviously the goal before half-time was vital for us – thankfully Santi stuck his free-kick into the top corner and then it wasn’t too far to get back into it. I was thankful in a way that they scored their two goals so early. We started a lot of games slowly up to the final and that was another occasion. That [the goals] gave us the kick that we needed to get going. We managed to score before half-time and then it felt like we were in control of the game. We created a few opportunities to get back into it and we managed to do it before winning in extra-time.

On whether his FA Cup winner is the biggest moment of his career…

Yeah, I think so. It’s definitely up there. To score the winner in an FA Cup final is everybody’s dream. To finally win something after all those years and the pressure that the team was under…it was such a nice feeling and a relief.

On whether last year’s experience is good preparation for this year’s final…

We never make it easy. I’m sure some of the fans would like it to be easier this time. Hopefully that will be the case on Saturday. We’ve experienced what it’s like going a few goals behind but we still believed in ourselves and our ability to get through it. Hopefully it’ll be a bit easier than that and we won’t have to put people through that again. They’re a good team [Villa], very solid and they’ve been in good form, so we’ll have to be aware of that.

Has the club developed more of a winning mentality…

I think so. We’re in another FA Cup final this year and that takes some doing. Back to back finals is not easy to achieve. In the second half of the season we showed the form that you need throughout the season to win this lead. We’ve shown we’re capable of going on these big runs, not losing too many games. If we can just show that consistency throughout the season we’ll be challenging for the Premier League. That’s what we’re looking to do next year and we’ll have a great opportunity of doing that.

On whether an FA Cup victory is necessary to call this a successful season…

It would be fair to say that. I think if we go on to win it would be a successful season. Getting third in the league and not having to qualify for the Champions League, that helps at the beginning of next season.

On what’s changed for Arsenal to be more competitive in fixtures with big teams…

In the past we’ve been a bit too naïve. Maybe we’ve tried to play the way we like to play a bit too much and left ourselves too open. Against quality if you lose the ball high up the pitch you know they’re going to punish you. I think we were of that for a couple of years. This year we’ve been a lot more solid as a team, we haven’t given them so much space to play. We’ve quite competitive and managed to take our chances at the other end. That’s a step forward from last year. The only thing now is to find that consistency.

On whether the squad are as hungry for an FA Cup success as last year…

Yes. We’ve been in the situation before and we won it last year. It’s so important to have that hunger and determination to prove you’re worthy winners. There’s been so many upsets in the FA Cup, just look at the last round; everybody fancied Liverpool to go through and Villa overturned them. It’s not going to be an easy game. We’re going to have to be aware of that, but I’ve seen the lads are even more hungry. We want to win more.

On whether the players have discussed Arsenal becoming the most decorated club in the history of the FA Cup…

Obviously it’d be nice to have that record. It’d be a great achievement for the club and to be involved in that history. A couple of the players are aware of that, but it doesn’t really make a difference. We’d want to go out as a group of players and win no matter what whether it was for the first time or whatever.

On Wenger’s FA Cup record boosting the players’ confidence…

I think he gives us confidence whatever game it is. He’s been very successful in this competition and he’s very experience. Every time we go out on the pitch he gives us the belief that we can go and express ourselves. That’s the best way to repay his faith – to prove what we can do, to be creative and to score lots of goals.

On being linked with a £50 million move to Barcelona…

I dunno. That’s just something that’s been written in the papers. I’m focused on Arsenal and winning the FA Cup. That sort of news doesn’t affect me or even enter my mind.

On whether a move to Barcelona appeals to him…

No. Not at this time. I’m focusing on the FA Cup. That’s what appeals to me right now.

On the importance of the fans…

As always you love having your supporters behind you. Even though we went 2-0 down last year in the final you could still hear them trying to get us back into the game. I thought they played a major part in that. They’re massive to us. You could see the amount of support we have on the parade with 250,000 fans on the streets and how much it meant to them. We hope we can give them another day to remember.

On whether he keeps his medals…

They’re in my trophy cabinet, which has grown slightly. They’re in my office.

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Thanks to Tim Stillman for recording the press conference.