"Although it was a supremely depressing weekend for us, I think that one good thing did come out of it. If you take our defeat to Charlton and the fact that Manchester United lost again, and then think that Leeds and Liverpool won, you can see that the Premiership is more open and exciting than ever.

"I think up to five teams could be in with a shout of winning the Premiership right up until the final hurdle. I'd say us, Manchester United, Leeds and Liverpool are the main contenders. But you shouldn't rule out one team breaking from Chelsea, Aston Villa or even Newcastle and giving us a run for our money.

"It's great for the fans and for the national side that the Premiership is becoming a stronger league with more sides in with a shout of winning the title. As long as we at Arsenal finish top of the tree, I'm more than happy for the league to become more competitive.

"Incidentally, I still feel that we're more than involved in the title race. I laughed my head off when I heard people saying we were finished after the Charlton match. I hope you won't mind me saying it but that's so typically English. Don't rule us out - we're far from finished."