Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praises his team's spirit and mentality after they pipped rivals Tottenham to second place in the Premier League Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praises his team's spirit and mentality after they pipped rivals Tottenham to second place in the Premier League

Arsene Wenger praised Arsenal's spirit after they climbed above Tottenham to finish second in the Premier League following a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on the final day.

Before kick-off the equation was simple for Wenger's men, who needed to pick up all three points against bottom of the table Villa and hope Newcastle could beat Spurs.

An Olivier Giroud hat-trick and an own goal from Mark Bunn handed the Gunners victory and after Spurs' demise at St James' Park, Arsenal finished runners up for the first time since 2005.

The win, coupled with Tottenham's capitulation at Newcastle, also means Arsenal have not finished below their neighbours since 1995.

Arsene Wenger said second place was reward for Arsenal's spirirt

"It was difficult to predict, especially a few weeks ago, but we kept our togetherness, our spirit," Wenger told Sky Sports.

"I think it's now 10 games without defeat and that's reward for our spirit, our mentality and also for our quality."

Arsenal had entered 2016 top of the table and looking in good shape to claim their first title in 12 years.

However, their title challenge fell away after a difficult second half to the season but Wenger was keen to praise champions Leicester.

Arsenal players mob Mikel Arteta to celebrate their fourth goal

"We had a difficult second part to our season because we had many difficult away games," Wenger said.

"We had to go to Tottenham, to Man City, to Manchester United and to Liverpool so I knew our position was a bit artificial in December. We needed an exceptional second part to the season and we didn't deliver that, but overall we finished second in the league and you have to congratulate Leicester.

"They lost only three games and two against us. Overall, they have been exceptional. Barcelona and Real Madrid lost more games in Europe. It's difficult to explain it but it is a fact."

Meanwhile, Arsenal's victory against Villa saw Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky bid farewell to the club and Wenger insists the midfield pair will be missed in the dressing room.

Arsenal's squad gave the departing Tomas Rosicky a guard of honour as he said farewell to the fans Arsenal's squad gave the departing Tomas Rosicky a guard of honour as he said farewell to the fans

"It was very emotional," Wenger said. "They are two exceptional players, two leaders as well and they are extremely well respected in the dressing room.

"We'll miss that because they have weight in the dressing room.

"Every manager knows it's important to have this kind of spiritual quality in the dressing room and they were exceptional players but they had exceptional spirit as well."

Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick in Arsenal's 4-0 win

Looking ahead to next season, Wenger revealed he will look to add two to three players to his squad in the summer as they look to win a first title since 2004.

He said: "We'll try to keep the squad together and then strengthen with two or three more players.

"We've lost Danny Welbeck for nine months, so I count it for the season. That means we need one more offensive player but we'll try to add three players to the squad."