Wenger senses Arsenal are ready for strong finish

Arsene Wenger insists there is no danger of complacency as Arsenal look to finish a difficult campaign by securing a top-four place in the Premier League.

The Gunners go into tonight’s home clash with Newcastle aiming to close within a point of third-placed Tottenham, who were beaten at Everton, and put distance between themselves and Chelsea, who beat Stoke on Saturday.

Arsenal have found some consistency in recent weeks, winning four of their last five league games, which included back-to-back victories over Spurs and Liverpool. Having crashed out the FA Cup at Sunderland and been unable to overturn a 4-0 first leg deficit against AC Milan in the Champions League, despite the morale-boosting 3-0 home win, Wenger knows his men must retain focus if they are to stay the course.

“We have learned from what happened at the end of last season,” said Wenger, who saw the previous campaign unravel following a shock Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham. “The team knows, subconsciously, that to finish in the top four this season requires fantastic fight, whereas maybe that was taken for granted towards the end of last year. This year we know we have to fight to get in there.”

Arsenal have Mikel Arteta fit while Newcastle miss Peter Lovenkrands.