Mikel Arteta believes his Arsenal players have proved they can deliver under pressure.
Now the Spaniard has challenged them to back up their Europa League win in Slavia Prague with victories in their next two Premier League games to transform their run-in prospects.
Arsenal produced their best display of the season to thump Slavia 4-0 on Thursday and secure a 5-1 aggregate win that earned them a place in the Europa League semi-finals.
That victory kept alive their best hope of qualifying for the Champions League next season — by winning Europe’s second-tier competition.
Arteta said: ‘That performance was a big indicator that under pressure the team can perform, that they have this spirit and desire to do well and show a real character.
‘I really liked the mindset that the players had. From the final whistle (in the first leg) at the Emirates with a disappointing result conceding so late from a set-piece, the players were convinced we would go through and that was really helpful in the preparations to get what we did.’
Arsenal’s brilliant performance in the Czech capital was the sort of display that would have had regular watchers wondering why they cannot play like that all the time.
Arteta has called on his team to at least match the winning outcome ahead of the visit of Fulham and Everton to the Emirates.
Arteta, whose side are ninth in the Premier League table, said: ‘Now it is about winning football matches.
‘At the end of the season you know you want to get a good run if you want to progress in the Premier League.
‘The priority now is Sunday, forget about the semi-final. We have two big games to play at home and we have to do our best to win them because if we do, the season will start to look a little bit different.’
Source: m.allfootballapp.com