It was an honest-looking Arsene Wenger the one who faced the media ahead of today’s game, on Friday afternoon.

Asked about the importance of beating West Bromwich Albion, the French started by saying that consistency is the key and how there is no place for complacency as the Gunners have finally bounced back from a very difficult start to the season and desperately need to keep their unbeaten run intact in order to continue their rise in the Premier League.

Asked about the many goals conceded so far in the domestic league, the Arsenal boss honestly admitted that the numbers don’t lie and how his players have to accept that there are defensive problems that need to be fixed ahead of a long season.

Wenger concluding by saying that he has plenty of options in the offensive department with Ivory Coast’s Gervinho as well as England’s Theo Walcott both capable of playing centrally, if required.

On Friday, Wenger said:

I believe that we are in a position where the last thing that should creep in is complacency.

We have come so far from difficult times. I believe we have an intelligent group and so we need to realise that there is a lot more for us to achieve to come back into a stronger position.

For us it is of course a vital game on Saturday. We are coming back into a better position in the league.

We feel at home we are managing to win games and we want to continue to do that.

What was important at Chelsea was that we won a big game, which is important for confidence.

[Improving defensively?] You have to accept the numbers. When you concede goals you have to accept that you have defensive problems and that is the same for every club.

We scored five goals at Chelsea and everybody in the week questioned the defence.

That’s part of our game and I must say that when you have conceded eight at Manchester United that is of course a subject that we have to face.

I believe we have improved, we showed it again on Tuesday night, and it must be a motivation for us to improve our defensive record because it is not good.

[Our strikers?] I feel as well that you can count Gervinho and Walcott as strikers.

Many times in press conference people ask me why we don’t play Walcott in the middle so he can play there if we need to do it.

At the moment I have a big squad and we need to keep them all fit and motivated.