Scott Parker has laughed off suggestions that Tottenham are running scared of a rejuvenated Arsenal as the fight for third place heats up.

Spurs midfielder relishing challenge of fighting for third place

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Scott Parker has laughed off suggestions that Tottenham are running scared of a rejuvenated Arsenal as the fight for third place heats up. A recent run of three defeats, including a 5-2 thumping by Arsenal, has seen Spurs' 10-point lead over their North London rivals cut to just a single point. Arsenal, by contrast, have strung together four wins on the bounce and are now breathing down their necks, but the current England captain insists Spurs are not afraid. "I wouldn't say we're worried one bit," he said. "We're focused. We need to win football matches. That's it. "We're in such a good league. Every week you're looking. There's Arsenal. There's Chelsea. Ultimately all we can do is keep performing and keep picking up results. "We've got some good senior players here. William Gallas has been in this position before - he's won championships. "We know what we need to do. We need to all pull together and see through the last remaining part of the season."The defeat in the North London derby, where Tottenham surrendered a 2-0 lead, has all but ended any faint hopes of stopping the title going to Manchester at the end of the season. That drubbing was followed by a 3-1 loss to Manchester United and going down 1-0 at Everton on Saturday. But spirits remains upbeat despite the current blip and Parker points to how much better the team have been in recent games. He added: "The second-half performance against Arsenal was nowhere near our standard. "Then against United we got the performance, but we all know this is a results business. "Hopefully we can go on a run now. We've got some difficult fixtures coming up."