Gunners and United bank on Van men to deliver

IN THEIR darkest hours, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Robert Pires talked frequently about their determination to resume their Arsenal careers where they had left off.

Both suffered serious knee injuries during the second half of last season van Bronckhorst against Fuham and Pires against Newcastle. Both were ruled out for six months but, as they proved in the 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at Highbury on Saturday, they are close to recapturing the form that set Arsenal on the road to the Double last season just in time for the critical Christmas programme.

"It was strange," said van Bronckhorst. "A week after I had my operation, Robert was injured. I spoke with him often because we had the same injury and we were almost at the same stage of recuperation at the same time.

"We saw each other a lot in the last month or so of our recuperation. I am happy and I am pleased to see Robert back and at the top of his game again. They were hard months for him and for me as well. It is just good to be back."

With Ray Parlour unlikely to be fit for Thursday's game at West Brom, van Bronckhorst is likely to be called on again.

He said: "I played in the first matches of this year and now in one of the last. I have been focused on coming back and to be playing again now makes all the hard work worth it. I am positive in my mind."

Following Manchester United's defeat at Blackburn yesterday, Arsenal go into their hectic Christmas programme West Brom away and Chelsea and Liverpool at home with a two-point lead at the top of the table.

"We have three very important games coming up, very difficult games," said the 27-year-old Dutch international. "We are looking to collect nine points. That will keep us at the top and that's the best position to be in at this stage of the season. To finish second or third doesn't mean anything."

Gunners skipper, Patrick Vieira, has targeted a return against West Brom and has worked hard to make sure he fully recovered from an injury.

He said: "We have a lot of games coming up in a short spell, and all of them big games, so that's why I thought it was better to make sure I was fully ready to come back."

Meanwhile, Gary Neville has set his Man Utd team-mates the task of gabbing a maximum nine-point haul from the remainder of the festive programme.

United's eight-game winning streak came to a dramatic halt at Ewood Park on Sunday when former Man City favourite Gary Flitcroft grabbed the home side's winner just before the break.

It means the Old Trafford outfit will spend Christmas Day four points adrift of Arsenal and two behind second-placed Chelsea as the title race enters one of its most crucial stages.

Neville is refusing to panic at the setback and was equally keen not to pin the blame on top scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy, who failed to convert his side's two best chances either side of the interval. But now he is looking to the St Stephen's Day trip to Middlesbrough, then the home encounters with Birmingham and Sunderland which follow to get United's championship challenge back on track.

"We need to win those three games it's as simple as that," said Neville. "If we get nine points on the board, who knows what the situation will be. There are going to be twists and turns in the run-in. This was one we didn't expect, didn't want and on chances created probably didn't deserve.

"Given the run we have been on, it was a terrible result. But all teams have days like that and it is important we pick ourselves up now to face Middlesbrough."

Despite heading the top flight goalscoring charts with 19 in all competitions this season, even Ferguson pinpointed the chances van Nistelrooy missed as being crucial to the outcome.

But Neville said: "Ruud has stuck so many away for us in the past there is no way you can criticise him.

"There were still 25 minutes to go, so we had a chance to get back into it but there is no doubt it became a real, hard slog for us. On days like that you hope something drops for you in the box but they hung on, defended well and made it difficult for us."

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier admits he is going through his toughest spell at Anfield since taking the reins four years ago.

The 0-0 draw with Everton yesterday means his team lie seven points behind Arsenal at the halfway stage of the season. Yet at the beginning of November it was Liverpool who were calling the tune.

"Personally speaking this is the most testing spell I have experienced at Liverpool," Houllier said.

"Individual mistakes have cost us, as has our failure to kill teams off before we get into trouble. We must stick together. I have told the players they should be closer than ever now. A friend in need is a friend in deed and so we have to help each other.

"I would ask the fans to keep faith with us too. Basically we have to keep trusting each other, to stay confident and to keep believing. Rarely has the club motto of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' been more appropriate."

Houllier said: "At times like this you either sink or you bounce back. We will not sink."