Arsene Wenger faces a fight to convince his players that Arsenal can still win the Premier League title as it prepares for a crucial clash at Bolton.
Wenger's side travels to the Reebok stadium with morale at a low ebb after the Gunners squandered leads to draw their last two games against Liverpool and Tottenham.
They conceded a last-minute penalty against Liverpool last Sunday and threw away a two-goal advantage to finish 3-3 against Tottenham in the north London derby on Wednesday.
Arsenal has drawn five of its last six league matches and is six points behind Manchester United when it could have been breathing down the necks of the Premier League leaders.
The Gunners have even lost second place to resurgent Chelsea and France right-back Bacary Sagna revealed the lack of belief in the Arsenal camp when he conceded that the title is almost out of reach.
Failure to win at Bolton this weekend would end Arsenal's fading hopes, yet Wenger is refusing to give up on catching United.
"Chelsea are back in and they play Manchester United. We have games we know we can win, at some stage it will be down to us. We will fight," Wenger said.
"We are on a 16-game run unbeaten but recently we didn't get enough points with too many draws. That is what we want to turn by the end of the season."
Sagna is less confident than Wenger of closing the gap on United.
While Arsenal's style of play has drawn plaudits, Sagna believes his team lacks the steel to close out matches.
Against Spurs even at 3-1 up the Gunners kept attacking, which left them exposed at the back and allowed their bitter rivals back into the match.
And Sagna admits they need to play more conservatively.
"We are drawing too many games to be champions. Especially at home, we have dropped many points," he said.
"From now, we need to look forward and we must not drop any more points.
"We have to play United on May 1 and we have to win. They will have some hard games coming, it is not easy for them, and it is down to us if we want to win something.
"We know we have to win our last games. We need to think about our team. We do not need to focus on other teams.
"We have to play each other and it will be a good game. We need to focus and win."
Abou Diaby is a doubt for the Bolton game after coming off early in the second half against Spurs with a hamstring, but long-term injuries aside, Wenger has an otherwise clean bill of health.
Meanwhile, Bolton will also be seeking redemption following its 5-0 loss to Stoke in the FA Cup semi-final last week.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle has urged his men to forget about their capitulation at Wembley and instead focus on maintaining their top 10 place in the Premier League.
Coyle is set to make changes to the side that lost to Stoke last Sunday, with on-loan Chelsea striker Dean Sturridge likely to lead the line after being cup-tied for the semi-final.
Matt Taylor and Mark Davies should fill the spaces in central midfield, after the pair contributed to an improved showing after coming on at Wembley.
- AFP
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