Arteta says Gunners are 'fully focused' on re-taking top spot by beating Wolves

Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal despite back-to-back defeats that have halted the Gunners' momentum at home and in Europe.

Arsenal surrendered the top spot in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa meant Manchester City remained above them in the table, despite having plenty of chances to score.

Then on Wednesday, Joshua Kimmich scored a second-half header to send Bayern Munich through to the Champions League semi-finals at the Gunners' expense.

Arteta admitted this week 'wasn’t the best experience', but said that Arsenal were not looking back, but remained glued in to the title race at home - starting with Saturday's trip to Gary O'Neil's Wolves, which would take them back top with a win.

'Now we’re fully focused on the ties that we have ahead of us', Arteta said, according to the Mirror. 'We’re a game behind City and we’re gonna give it a real go. A lot of the time it’s because the margins that we are competing with are decided in May.

'Before that you have to be extremely consistent. We should have won the game vs Villa and we played the price for missing our chances. Now it’s not about talking too much, we have to show what we’re made of in Wolves

'The context is clear. If we win, we are top of the league. If you need anything else to be motivated and if you need anything else to keep your mind clear you have a problem.'

When asked if he should be rotating more, Arteta admitted: 'It is a possibility. That’s always going to come when you lose a game. When we beat Brighton no one asked these questions. That’s part of our industry.

'It’s been a very intense journey. When you are near the top and you’re fighting at such a level you know you’re going to do that. This job is constantly testing your resilience and