Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger was of course delighted following his side’s outstanding win over Blackburn. He said:

We have been waiting for goals for a long time and I believe that maybe the pressure came off the team a bit after the Roma game so we played with more freedom. I believe we have more creative talent and the game is more fluid. Our football is coming back which I think is down to psychological reasons.

The team were always highly focused and they always want to do well. We are on a long and consistent run now and that’s why I believe we can go from strength to strength from now until the end of the season.

On Arshavin, the Frenchman added:

He has intelligence, vision and talent to pass one against one. His second goal was an example of that. I changed him at half time and put him on the left but he can play right, central or left. You ask any good football player where he wants to play he will say central.

“He had four stitches in his foot at half time, it is cut along the outside completely and the doctor had to make four stitches at the break. We delayed kick off a bit because of that.

On a possible top-three finish, he said:

We know that every game is a challenge. Before we start to dream we play every three days and we can rotate a bit at the moment. We have a challenge in every single game from now until the end of the season and we cannot drop off one or two per cent in our performances. I feel in the dressing room that the team are really up for it.