‘It’s about sticking together now’

“I think it’s just about sticking together and continuing to fight.”

That was Arsène Wenger’s message when he was asked about the importance of finishing in the top four at his pre-match press conference ahead of the West Ham game.

We go into Wednesday night’s match seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, albeit with a game in hand.

“It’s a good challenge but I think it’s perfectly possible,” Wenger said. “Certainly for 20 years I have done it and it looked always like it’s nothing. Suddenly it becomes important, so I am quite pleased that people realise that it’s not as easy as it looks.

“Of course we have a difficult task in front of us, but I am happy as well that people realise suddenly that it’s not as easy as it looked always.

“The experience will play a part of course, but I think it is just about sticking together and continuing to fight. If we show the same spirit we showed against City, we will win football games.

“We have played 19 games unbeaten this season, and I think it’s a good opportunity to remind people we are not fighting to not go down, we are fighting to have a positive end to the season. That’s why you want the fans to stand behind the team and that the debate at the moment is about that.

“Let’s finish as strong as we can and show that we have some resilience, some quality and some mental spirit that we have shown against City.”