Title race will go to the wire, says Wenger

ARSENE WENGER still insists that Arsenal’s powers of recovery means the Premiership title race will go to the wire.

However, the evidence begs to differ. Not only are Manchester United looking more confident and fresher, but Saturday was the seventh time this season that the Gunners have failed to close out a game having taken the lead.

None will frustrate Wenger so much as the two-goal lead at the Reebok Stadium. The manager was so angry and frustrated at the way his side had conceded the lead, he refused to attend the after-match press conference.

Instead, he limited himself to brief television and radio interviews outside the dressing rooms.

While furious at the lack of commitment shown by his team, he maintains that with three games remaining they can still overtake Manchester United and regain their crown.

“We will recover from this,” he said. “Things can change very quickly in football. Maybe things look dull and dark, but they can be bright tomorrow.

“It is not in our hands and we need some good results. I think we want to focus on us. It is still open, but it is not in our hands.

“I don’t think the pressure is telling. It was a lack of concentration on the first and second goals. We should not have conceded those goals.

“I am disappointed to be 2-0 up and then finish as we did. With 15 minutes to go we looked safe and should have been secure.

“I don’t know what went wrong. Not a lot. We scored two but did not find the fluency we have had. At 2-1 we were under pressure.

“At the moment we lack a bit of freshness. Maybe we just want to do the minimum to win games.”

Arsenal entertain Leeds next Sunday, then travel to Southampton before wrapping up their league campaign at relegated Sunderland.

Wenger is facing a defensive crisis going into the weekend as Sol Campbell starts a four-match ban.

Pascal Cygan and Lauren (both calf) were injured at Bolton as was Freddie Ljungberg (ankle).

“They were put out by bad tackles,” said the Arsenal boss. “They could be out for a while. We will know more about the extent of their injuries in the next day or so.”

Arsenal were cruising thanks to goals from Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires in the space of 10 minutes at the start of the second half.

However, Bolton grabbed a point, which could prove crucial in their battle to beat the drop, with Youri Djorkaeff’s cool finish and a wayward header from Arsenal defender Martin Keown.

While delighted with the way his side had performed, manager Sam Allardyce was furious with referee Andy D’Urso for sending off defender Florent Laville after he was shown his second yellow card.

Allardyce is looking for the FA to rescind the card, but he knows he could be in trouble himself for his outspoken views.

“I will probably end up with what I have said going in front of the FA,” said Allardyce.

“If I get fined, then I will ask Mr D’Urso to pay it as it should come out of his wages, not mine,” said Allardyce.

“Florent has only committed two fouls today and none of them with any great ferocity, none of them really dirty, none of them career-threatening, none of them in a dangerous area.

“He gets two yellow cards and is sent off which just isn’t right. It is unacceptable.

“We find ourselves down to 10 men then have six minutes time added on and that puts even more pressure on us.

“It left a bitter pill in my mouth again and the officials have got to stop what they are doing.

“I hope the referee has the bottle to rescind the card. He has plenty of stick of me today because he deserves it.”

“It was a magnificent comeback against Arsenal, but someone has to speak up and be loud and keep asking referees to do the right things.”