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Morning Arsene, can we start by getting the latest team news?

Well, we have a little problem with Koscielny from Stoke and we'll see how he has recovered today. Everybody else should be available. We have Gibbs who we left behind on Saturday but who is available again and Chamberlain is still out.

Alexis Sanchez?

Alexis Sanchez will have a test today. Yesterday, it didn't look too good but with him, you never know. He is always so keen that maybe it was just a kick so that could as well be a possibility that he recovers for tomorrow.

Just on Alexis, he became the first player to record double figures for both goals and assists in the Premier League this season. We're running out of superlatives for him, aren't we? Just how integral for this team is he?

I think overall at the start he was a player who was focused mainly on scoring goals and he developed his assist potential with us very well and he plays now in a position where he can provide as well, he can score. I believe he has become a complete player and he has developed very well at Arsenal Football Club and of course it is an exceptional achievement. I would like to say that to score in double figures, to provide in double figures is really to be a special player.

(Image: Getty Images)

Arsene, can I just check; you said Laurent Koscielny has a problem and Alexis Sanchez needs a test. What are their injuries?

Koscielny has a little recurrence of his calf problem that left him out against Southampton and Alexis Sanchez, a kick on his thigh.

Two matches ago, you were three points outside the top four. How do you assess your chances of finishing in the top four?

Our chances is just to win our games. We have 69 points, we can get to 75. That would be four points more than last year, so let's focus on finishing as well as we can. We have created a momentum again. We had a difficult period and recovered from it so overall I think the only chance we have to be in the top four now is to win our games.

Is it a big ask, though?

Big ask is to always to win is difficult, yes.

Realistically, are you outsiders for a too four finish?

We are mathematically. It doesn't depend only on us. The only influence we can have is to win our games.

(Image: Getty Images)

You won three in a row - one against Manchester United, one against Southampton and one against Stoke - how encouraged are you by that and the momentum it has given you?

I am very positive because it looks like we got stronger in every single game. And against us, the teams fight and we have to dig deep every time to win the games. I believe that we won six of the last seven games and we have created the momentum again after having a period where away from home we were not stable. We look strong again now. We won our last three away games, so it looks positive.

Hector Bellerin, after the victory over Stoke, talked about the team's character. Is that something that, perhaps not at the moment but over the course of the season, has been lacking?

I wouldn't say that. I believe that the players have character, the players have spirit. When you have gone through the period we have gone, with such a hostile environment, you do not recover if you are not strong. The players have been extremely strong to respond the way we did. We lacked - as I said repeatedly, many times - defensive stability in some important games in the season. We had to re-think completely the system. I had to make some changes and overall we look more stable at the moment.

Over recent seasons, Arsenal have had a reputation for finishing strongly. Why do you think that is the case?

Because we do our job properly and we do our job until the end. As long as we are in competition, we prepare the team well. That's why we are always finishing strong, because we kept our focus.

Would finishing outside the top four affect your plans for the summer?

I believe finishing outside the top four will not have any influence on how the club will be led and how we will behave on the transfer market.

And why are you sure about that?

I know where you want to lead me but I cannot give you that indication. I just think that if we finish outside the top four, it will be down to one point, maybe. And one point is will be of course difficult to swallow but that should not change completely the judgement on the quality of the team to a way where you think you absolutely have to change everything. It will mean just to keep the same focus, to try to strengthen the squad. We know where it has to be and that's what the club will have to do.

You know I have to ask you because we have to every time.

Yeah, I just answered. You don't have to.

Well, I do because you might say 'yes, I have decided and this is what I am going to do'.

No.

Are you talking to board, do they know what you are planning?

I am just focused on tomorrow's game.

(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsene, there is the possibility - the distinct possibility - that you could finish on 75 points and win the FA Cup. What would that mean to you then, given the sort of season you've had?

Well it would mean that the season is not as well as I had hoped at the start of the season.

Not as well?

Not as well as I had hoped at the start of the season because I start the season to win the Premiership and when you don't do it, you're never completely satisfied, like everyone else who doesn't win it. But as well, not disastrous. I think what is encouraging is the way the team has developed recently and the way the ambition of the team is back. Overall, I think it is difficult to get points in this league and difficult for everybody.

You talk about the defensive qualities now, you being happier with them. Is that the single reason why you've suddenly gone on this really good run that you've had that perhaps wasn't there before?

Yes. We were quite strong until January and we had a blip after defensively. I believe that in the difficult away games after we suffered. We conceded too many goals. If you look at our record, I think we have scored 72 goals but have conceded over 40 - that is too many goals conceded.

You need other teams to slip up - how confident are you that Liverpool might slip up in their last game?

Confident or not, I don't know. You face the problem in a different way when you are manager. You want your team to give absolutely its best until the last second to have the chance to have no regrets and that's what you do. You focus on your own team and hope that the results go for you at some stage. But to focus just on doing well.

So you don't look at the remaining fixtures and try say?

No because some teams turn up, some teams are on holiday. It's very difficult to plan. You just want your team to do well and to focus completely. I think to be professional is that - do your job properly until the last second of the season.

And how important is it for your team to take it to the last day of the season?

It is vital.

For the morale?

Just for the fact that we can look in the mirror and say 'we did it properly'. And that, for me, absolutely vital. I work every day not to turn up halfway, to turn up properly and do my job properly and if we don't have the results I am very disappointed. But what is not excusable is not to give your best.

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You've said that this recent run shows that the players have shown unity together. Do you think that unity was missing at any stage earlier in the season?

No I think no team is absolutely on the mental front and on the confidence front absolutely consistent from the first to the last day of the season. Every team suffers a moment in the season and when we suffered, I think we suffered a lot after we went out of the Champions League under very special circumstances. Because if you look at these two games, if you take the first halves then we would have qualified. It was very difficult to swallow, for the team, how it happened and it took us some time to recover. When you are in a difficult period you can be either divided or united and I think we responded in a united way.

If you do go on to win the last two games and finish with 75 points - more points than last season - do you think that shows progress?

I don't want to go into conclusions early but I think if you can make 75 points, it is a decent total because I won the championship with 78 [in 1997/98] but this season it looks at the end of the season that many teams who have been assured to stay in the league have just released their focus. And as well, you had basically two leagues - the top six, and the rest of the Premier League. Everybody took points, too many points, from lower teams. That usually did not happen in the years before.

And these last two games, are any of your players playing for their place at Arsenal in the future?

No because we have nobody at the end of contract this season.

Just on Alex Oxalde-Chamberlain, has he got a chance for the weekend?

No.

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What about the cup final?

The earliest chance he has to be available is for the cup final.

What kind of percentage would you give him?

I would say it's 80-20.

And just on the system, the change to three at the back. You said when you first brought it in that you thought about it earlier in the season, can you tell us when that was and why you decided against it then?

Because we like to like to attack and we have an offensive philosophy. That is a bit more defensive minded. And as well, because we were not completely sure that is could insecure the team a bit when things were going all well. So overall, these are the main reasons. We did not have the personnel, as well, available to do it at the time that we have now. People like Rob Holding were lacking experience, so these are the main reasons.

When did you sort of first start thinking about it?

I think in November.

Was it that because Chelsea switched to it, a couple of others - Tottenham were playing it...

No not because of Chelsea, just because I felt that when you are such a long period on the bench, you feel that intense situation in high-level games. Sometimes you get away with it, with defensive insecurity, because you score goals. And sometimes you smell as well that if it doesn't go well, if the confidence drops in some games, you can pay for it.

(Image: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

A couple of the fan groups are talking about boycotting the game tomorrow. What would your message to them be?

My message is always the same - to support the team.

The stadium hasn't been full for the last few games, is that a concern to you at all?

Of course, because we are always sold out so I don't know where you get that impression.

You must see, there are empty seats in the stadium.

Yeah but that doesn't mean that we are not sold out.

But it's important that the fans stick with the team right to the end, isn't it? Because the top four race isn't over.

Of course.