Arteta - We can compete in big games

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal can overcome another "mental barrier" this year and get results against their biggest rivals.

Heavy defeats at Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City dented Arsenal's title bid in 2013/14 but Arsene Wenger's side still finished just seven points behind champions City.

An improvement in those top-of-the-table clashes could make all the difference and Arteta thinks a win over City in Sunday's Community Shield would set the right tone.

"Mentally we need to go through that barrier because we can't allow that to affect us this season," he told Arsenal Player.

"It's a different season, it's a different scenario and we have some different players. We had some good results away from home in previous seasons, against Chelsea we beat them 5-3 and we went to Man City and we deserved to win - we did very well.

"It cannot affect us, [the big defeats] happened and we treat it like an accident - we need to forget about it and make sure we compete against the big teams."

Arteta has happy memories of Wembley after lifting the FA Cup there three months ago, and the Spanish midfielder wants to produce another "moment of happiness" this weekend.

"It does [feel like a long time ago] but it was a really nice feeling and a big relief," he said.

"All the Arsenal fans deserved that day because they have been waiting for such a long time and the support they have been giving to the team and the club has been tremendous.

"I was so happy we could produce a moment of happiness to all of them and on the following day when we were on the bus. We saw that all those fans have been waiting for that time to come.

"I was so pleased to give them a little piece because this has to be the start. Arsenal has to be fighting for bigger trophies and have bigger aims. That has to be a consistent thing."