Arsenal face nervous finish admits Wenger
Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal face a nervous finale to the season after a 3-3 draw with Norwich dealt a major blow to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: May 06, 2012 01:31 PM IST
Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal face a nervous finale to the season after a 3-3 draw with Norwich dealt a major blow to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
An equaliser from Norwich substitute Steve Morison five minutes from time leaves Arsenal without a victory from their last three home fixtures.
If Tottenham and Newcastle win on Sunday, Arsenal will drop out of the Premier League's top four heading into the last round of fixtures next weekend.
And with their run of 14 consecutive seasons playing in European football's elite club competition now in real jeopardy ahead of the trip to face West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, Wenger is preparing himself for a week of tension.
"We've only taken two points from the last three games at home and when you are so close to the end of the season, you have to have a lot of regrets. Let's hope we will not pay for that," Wenger said.
"It was a massive blow not to win and the only question for us now is what the price will be. Will it be us out of the Champions League?
"We will have to see but the only thing we can hope now is that mathematically we are not second best going into the final game."
A broken leg in the first half for Bacary Sagna provided more bad news for Wenger -- with the French defender now set to miss Euro 2012.
Van Persie was presented with his PFA and Football Writers' Player of the year awards on the pitch before the match and now has 30 league goals this season.
But Wenger conceded his side have come to rely too much on their talismanic skipper.
"When you look at the chances we created it's absolutely unbelievable that we didn't score more than three goals," he said.
"But again we were punished for not getting enough goals from elsewhere -- Robin scored twice and we really needed someone else to score another but it doesn't happen enough.
"Of course we need to address that because I feel we could have scored six or seven times."
A fourth-placed finish may not be enough given Chelsea's involvement in the final against Bayern Munich later this month, although Wenger refused to be drawn whether his London rivals will triumph in the Allianz Arena.
"I have no gut-feeling. I'm just gutted," he said.
Meanwhile, Norwich boss Paul Lambert admitted he was delighted with his team this term, but called on the board to let him add to his squad to improve their options next season.
"It's an amazing achievement for us," he said. "I've had everything out of our players for the last three years but they will need a hand to kick on.
"A miracle has happened here but everyone needs help. You have to keep progressing the club forward.
"I've had some unbelievable moments at this club and the crowd have really bought into it. The players and the fans are the ones who deserve all the credit."