Wenger salutes ‘ludicrous’ Gunners surge

ARSENE WENGER accepts it was “ludicrous” to believe Arsenal could haul themselves back to the top of the Premier League – but now believes his young team have the desired hunger to stay there until May.

Wednesday night’s 4-2 victory over Bolton, after they had trailed 2-0, was a seventh in the nine matches since a comprehensive 3-0 home defeat by Chelsea left them some 11 points adrift and seemingly well and truly out of the title race.

“If you keep belief, no matter what people say, it can strengthen the belief in the heads of my players and get them stronger,” the Arsenal manager said.

“But I am very proud of what the players have achieved because at the time (after the Chelsea game) it looked a little bit ludicrous to say we would come back. Despite that, the players continued to fight with belief.”

Wenger added: “We believe we have a real chance and I am convinced this team will have a real go. It is very important we keep a good mixture between humility, with our feet on the ground, and of course ambition and desire to win it.”

The next time Arsenal resume league action following this weekend’s FA Cup fourth-round ties, when they travel to Stoke on Sunday, Wenger’s men will be about to embark on a run of fixtures which is likely to make or break their campaign.

First up will be a trip to Champions League hopefuls and Carling Cup finalists Aston Villa on January 27, with the small matter of a visit from Manchester United four days later.

The following weekend will see Arsenal travel to Chelsea, before they host Liverpool on February 10 ahead of the Champions League last 16 clash against Porto.

Wenger quipped: “After these games, it (title hopes) depends whether you are top of the league on goal difference or if you are 12 points ahead of the second team. We are in a fight where we are at the top of the league at the moment.

“The real difference is made with the teams you fight against (for the title). Those games have mathematically a much bigger impact on the table than games like against Bolton.”

Czech winger Tomas Rosicky, whose strike at the end of the first half started the fightback, believes team spirit has been key to Arsenal’s resurgence.

“You can see that this team has great mental strength,” he said. “Everybody knows that the coming weeks are the critical ones in the whole season and this win came right on time for the team. For the confidence of the team, it is absolutely great.

“The togetherness in this team is very good. If you don’t have this, you don’t win games like against Bolton and turn them around. It is very important that this characteristic is in the team.

“But of course we have to carry on because there is a long way to go.”

Defender William Gallas, meanwhile, will not face any retrospective disciplinary action from the FA following his tackle on Bolton’s Mark Davies, which forced the midfielder off the field with an ankle injury, in the build-up to Arsenal’s equaliser as referee Alan Wiley considered he dealt with the incident as he saw it at the time.

Midfielder Abou Diaby will be assessed after he had to go off with a calf problem but full-back Kieran Gibbs is set to miss the rest of the campaign as he needs further surgery to repair a depressed open fracture to his first metatarsal.