Martin O'Neill has warned his Sunderland players that Arsenal are more than a one-man team as they prepare for an intriguing double-header.

The Black Cats will put an unbeaten home record under their new manager on the line when the Gunners visit the Stadium of Light in the Premier League on Saturday, seven days before they return in the FA Cup fifth round.

They will do so with Arsenal's Dutch striker Robin van Persie having taken his tally for the season 28 in all competitions with a hat-trick in last Saturday's 7-1 demolition of Blackburn.

However, O'Neill knows his side will have to do more than stop van Persie if they are to emerge with anything to show for their efforts.

He said: "That is too simplistic. They have enough talent in their team.

"They are playing Champions League football next week, which is a credit to them.

"They have qualified once again into the latter stages of the competition, so I am not so sure that one man could just carry that on his own.

"They have talent, they have a bit of pace in their team as well, and their victory last week will give them encouragement and confidence for the rest of the season."

In addition, Sunderland will have to handle an emerging star in the shape of 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who struck twice in the same game to confirm his glittering potential.

O'Neill said: "I saw him play a couple of weeks ago against Leeds United in the FA Cup and I was really impressed with him.

"He's very, very strong, he is very quick, he seems to know what it's all about and for one so young, he looks as if he has got a real future ahead of him."

Arsenal's visit to Wearside is the biggest test for some time of the Black Cats' impressive recovery under the Ulsterman.

A run of just two defeat in 13 games has been capped by an unbeaten sequence of five outings which has brought nine league points and progression to the last 16 in the FA Cup.

But a cautious O'Neill is reluctant to accept that there are no dangers lurking around the corner.

He said: "If you win some matches, you get that confidence that we talked about and self-belief, and those things are pretty important when you are going into football games.

"But there is a difference between having respect for your opponents - which we have to have because we are not really good enough to treat anybody without it - and having a part of the fear removed because you are actually doing okay yourselves.

"That's been the case in point, but we could come unstuck here against Arsenal very, very easily. Other teams have over recent times, so it could be a problem for us.

"But we are going into the game in a great frame of mind, anyway."

O'Neill and opposite number Arsene Wenger are old foes, and the former has great respect for the latter.

He said: "There's a bit of bickering at this moment because they haven't won [a trophy] in the last few years, but he has been a fantastic manager.

"Sometimes in the heat of the moment, things like that might be forgotten, but he has been a great manager for a long, long time and he continues to be so."

That, however, did not stop the pair clashing on the sidelines during O'Neill's reign at Aston Villa, although the 59-year-old insists that is all in the past.

He said with a smile: "That's well and truly forgotten about now. I always have a difference of opinion."

Both O'Neill and Wenger have been mentioned among the candidates to replace Fabio Capello as England boss in recent days, and the former Northern Ireland midfielder is sure to be touted as a possible candidate to replace Harry Redknapp should he leave Tottenham for Soho Square.

However, he is adamant he remains a passive observer.

He said: "Yes, I would be an interested observer outside that."