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'We can make a fast start this season'

Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta has no doubts that Arsenal will be firing on all cylinders by the start of the season, despite suffering their first defeat of the summer on Sunday.

The Spanish midfielder captained Arsene Wenger's side as they lost 2-1 to Galatasaray in the Emirates Cup, leaving the Gunners with four wins from their six pre-season fixtures.

"We know that we need to start really well. We can't afford to drop points as we have done at the beginning of the last couple of seasons"

Mikel Arteta

Arsenal head to Helsinki to face Manchester City in their final friendly on Saturday and Arteta believes the camaraderie and quality within the squad will help them make a fast start to the 2013/14 campaign.

"The atmosphere has been unbelievable," said Arteta. "We have been training really hard and playing well in the games in pre-season. Sunday was a disappointing result but we have been progressing really well and I think we will be fine for the start of the season.

"We have two weeks to go. We have another good test against Manchester City, then we start, and the schedule will be really tight over the next two or three weeks.

"We know that we need to start really well. We can't afford to drop points as we have done at the beginning of the last couple of seasons."

Arteta and his team-mates won nine and drew two of their last 11 fixtures last season and the Spaniard is confident they can pick up where they left off.

"We know each other better and we are doing things right in the games - we seem very comfortable and compact. On Sunday the fitness levels in the last 20 to 25 minutes dropped and we lost our shape a little bit. That is normal at this stage.

"But I think both [Emirates Cup] games were very competitive. Fitness-wise it was quite demanding as we played 90 minutes on two days. But we will hit the ground running [when the season begins]."

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