Tomas Rosicky said that Arsenal can use the confidence gained from their 7-1 demolition of Blackburn to make the top four.
Arsene Wenger’s men are sixth in the Premier League, having cut the gap between themselves and fourth-placed Chelsea to three points on Saturday with the big win over Rovers, and the Czech midfielder feels that the manner of the performance can help them overcome criticism.
“We recently had an unsuccessful spell so this is something we can build on,” Rosicky told the club’s official website.
“We can be happy after this game but the most important thing is to carry a performance like that and fight for a Champions League spot.”
“It was a game when almost everything went in and it’s good for confidence.”
“But it does not matter if it was seven goals or one – the most important thing is the performance and the fact we can repeat it.”
Having fought back into the race for European qualification following a disastrous start to the season, Arsenal had attracted renewed criticism from fans and pundits for their recent form, which saw them pick up just one point from a possible 12.
“That is today’s world,” the 31-year-old said.
“It is a very crazy but that is what you can expect if you lose three times in a row (in the Premier League in January).”
“The important thing is for us not to listen to that, keep working and produce another performance like Saturday’s.”
“We were five points behind fourth place and that is nothing in today’s football at this stage of the season. If we perform like this I have no doubt we will be there.”
Arsenal travel to a rejuvenated Sunderland on Saturday.
