Szczesny confident of bouncing back
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is confident that the Gunners can get their title hopes back on track against North-London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
The chances of Arsenal knocking league-leaders Manchester United off their perch were dealt a huge blow on Sunday as Liverpool salvaged an equaliser in the dying seconds - meaning that Arsene Wenger’s side now lie six points adrift of Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils.
But Szczesny is confident that the team can bounce back from their disappointing result against Liverpool and that the Tottenham game can serve as a morale-booster to the entire squad.
"Of course we still believe we can win the title. We still have to play United and they also have to play Chelsea. They will drop points and we believe we're good enough to win every game remaining," he said.
"Tottenham is a very good match for us to come back from a big disappointment and we owe it to the fans because they're very disappointed about what happened against Liverpool. We owe them a result at White Hart Lane.
"We are Arsenal, we don't want to finish second and we definitely don't want to finish third. The draw was a huge disappointment because with a minute to go we scored what we thought was a winning goal. We're all gutted. It was a cheap penalty to give away whether it was one or not. We needed to win really badly to keep the pressure on United."
Arsenal also have the additional problem of a revitalised Chelsea breathing down their necks, who now find themselves only two points behind the Gunners. However, Szczesny insists that he and his team-mates are focused on catching Manchester United, rather than looking over their shoulders.
"We're only thinking about winning the title, not who is behind us," he said. "We go into everything to finish first.”
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The 21-year-old goalkeeper also admitted that he hasn’t quite yet returned to 100 percent fitness, after suffering a broken finger against Barcelona in the Champions League.
"I still feel a little uncomfortable when I'm in goal. I wear a special protection but it didn't cause me any trouble against Liverpool."
By Elliott Binks
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.