Per Mertesacker believes the Arsenal squad are beginning to find their rhythm - but admits there is still work to be done.

Arsene Wenger's side are unbeaten in all competitions this season and reached the Champions League group stage with victory over Besiktas on Wednesday night.

Mertesacker says the squad's togetherness played a vital role in the win and feels they are on the right path.

"That's still a tough challenge for us - to get ourselves going, to find our passing game," Mertesacker told Arsenal Player. "We've only trained two or three times together and this season makes it really difficult for us to stick to our game.

"We went into the Champions League group stage together and that's what everyone aims for"

"We have to find ourselves still. That's really important but we carried on and the team spirit was good and that got us through.

"You could feel the tension all the way through. Floodlight games are massive and you could feel a big relief after the game for the whole squad that we went through with a lot of effort. We made it and that was the target."

Mertesacker captained Arsenal in the absence of Mikel Arteta and has praised the Arsenal fans for their role in helping the team to advance.

"They got us going, especially when we went down to 10 men,” he said. "It makes us proud that we've shown another good performance. We went into the Champions League group stage together and that's what everyone aims for."