Theo Walcott and Andrei Arshavin were on target as Arsenal battled to a 2-1 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park.
Walcott fired a stunning 19th minute opener as the Gunners worked hard for the points. He was sent scampering clear down the right flank by a fine ball from Robin van Persie before cutting inside and ramming a low shot past Paul Robinson.
Wenger's dislike of the home side's qualities are well known and he insisted his side had approached the game with concerns after a bruising battle in the equivalent fixture last season.
Wenger said: "We had a good start but in my opinion we were too nervous dealing with the game of Blackburn. Who would not be unsettled by the kind of game Blackburn gave us today? Last year we had bad memories here and because we knew they would play the kind of game we don't like we had not enough confidence to deal with that.
"In the second half I felt we were calmer. We put the ball well on the ground and controlled it better and it was just a question of time. We had the right resilience and commitment."
And Wenger is adamant the way his side shrugged off those nerves to take the points sent a strong signal that they will not be found wanting in the title chase this season.
"If you have ambition in this league you have got to win at Blackburn," Wenger added. "If you fail to win at Blackburn - if you go to clubs like that and you don't win - your ambition will not be respected by the other teams so it was an important test for us. The players are committed and we had that little bit more experience today, even if on just one or two occasions we were a bit lucky."
Scoring Summary:
Blackburn
Mame Biram Diouf 27'
Arsenal
Theo Walcott 20'
Andrei Arshavin 51'
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