Dennis Bergkamp claims Arsenal have recovered their confidence in the nick of time for Sunday's showdown with Chelsea.

The Gunners had only won one game in the previous six before they played Birmingham last weekend, allowing Chelsea to open a five-point gap at the top of the Premiership, but a 3-0 win at Highbury followed by a 5-1 trouncing of Rosenborg saw a return to form.

Bergkamp said: 'I wish we knew why we lost our rhythm. Sometimes you think you are doing the same sort of things playing at the higher level and it could just be a little bit less than the week before.

'Then that makes a big difference in that game and to get it back again takes a lot of time and a lot of hard work.

'With the two results we have had against Birmingham and Rosenborg hopefully we are back at our best.

'We had just lost a bit of confidence, that is fair to say and it is a big part of the game.'

Bergkamp paid tribute to Arsene Wenger for remaining cool during the crisis.

The Dutch striker added: 'The manager has made sure we stayed calm and we worked a lot on positional football in training which helped us a lot.

'The key was not to panic. We had to be realistic and look at the squad and the players we have here and you should never panic. We just need to trust in ourselves again.

'We got to play some football on Tuesday, which is important ahead of Sunday. We could find each other again and play some one-touch football that has not been there for a few weeks.

'You could see on Tuesday that it helps with confidence and get us on the right track.'

Arsenal will be without their captain Patrick Vieira due to suspension as well as their experienced Brazilian midfield duo Edu and Gilberto, who are injured, but Bergkamp has no worries about Cesc Fabregas, 17, and 20-year-old Mathieu Flamini.

He added: 'The youngsters proved they can handle the big occasion.

'The young players will cope with the pressure of playing Chelsea, and they have enough experienced players around them that can help with the experience. The main thing for those players is to just go out and play against Chelsea.

'They do not know pressure and they just want to play. You could see that on Tuesday.'