Vieira: we deserve to win Premiership

Mark Bradley

The Arsenal captain is expecting crisis headlines to envelop the club following their setbacks in the FA Cup semi-finals and Champions League quarter-finals within the past five days.

Indeed, they have failed to win any of their four vital games against Manchester United and Chelsea over the past fortnight, leaving their season in danger of collapse.

Arsene Wenger's side still have a four-point lead over Chelsea in the title race, with a match in hand, but they face tricky games at home to Liverpool and then away to Newcastle over Easter. They could be without Thierry Henry, who injured his hamstring against Chelsea, as well as Fredrik Ljungberg, who is a renewed doubt with his broken hand.

Vieira nevertheless insisted: "We have to re-group. There is only the league left, so we have to show how strong we are. Of course, there is disappointment, but we have to forget the last two games as quickly as possible and the next two games are important for us.

"The desire is still there. We're hurt after losing these two games and it's about how we react as a team. We are really strong and now we have to show how strong we are we have no choice.

"We have to win something, we deserve to win something and winning the league would still be good. We are going to get hammered for losing and we have to accept it. When you are winning, people put you up. When you are losing, they put you down.

"That is the way football is. What is important is how we react. We are used to being hammered and we're going to handle it properly."

Arsenal will nevertheless feel the effects of their tough encounters against United and Chelsea, with only a short recovery time before they face Liverpool on Good Friday at Highbury.

Henry, who was yesterday having treatment on his hamstring, may have to undergo a scan to determine the severity of the injury.

The Arsenal medical staff must also decide whether Ljungberg, who played with heavy strapping on his right hand against Chelsea, needs surgery to have a metal pin inserted. Wenger could instead turn to Sylvain Wiltord, who has returned to the squad after being injured since December, while Dennis Bergkamp and Gilberto Silva will also be hoping for recalls.

Across London Roman Abramovich proudly boasted that Chelsea showed "Russian character" to beat Arsenal. He said through his spokesman yesterday: "Chelsea played great and I think the team showed the Russian character to hold on, to fight, to win. This is a great result. We are now waiting for Monaco."

Abramovich has spent £120 million on new players and watched in delight as one of them, Wayne Bridge, sealed a memorable win with a late goal to set up a last-four meeting with the French league leaders.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's players yesterday insisted they can win the Champions League, but Claudio Ranieri thinks they can go one better and catch Arsenal in the Premiership too.

The Chelsea coach was reduced to tears of joy after Bridge's late winner. The result capped a disastrous four days for Arsenal, who were beaten by Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final last Saturday. Chelsea will be the favourites to beat Monaco in the two-legged semi-final and Frank Lampard, who brought the Blues level in the 51st minute, is convinced they can go all the way. "Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world at the moment, but we've beaten them, which gives us the belief we can go on and win the competition. We have to believe. We're in the semi-finals and it won't be easy but, if we play like we did yesterday, we've got a good chance of reaching the final.

"There's an incredible feeling in the dressing room and it's the result of all our hard work since July.

"It was a great night for the whole of Chelsea and I'm ecstatic. It's the best night of my career and a lot of the lads are saying the same thing. A lot of us are young lads who haven't experienced much Champions League success, so this is incredible."