Mikel Arteta says Arsenal’s draw at Manchester City will give his team “belief” and “momentum” in the title race.
The Gunners battled hard at the Etihad to earn a point that means they stay above City in the Premier League.
Arsenal, who now trail leaders Liverpool after they beat Brighton earlier on Sunday, had previously lost their last eight games away to City.
But they produced a strong defensive display in a goalless draw that Arteta believes that will fill his side with confidence.
“It generates belief,” he said. “It continues the momentum and the good position that we’re in.
“The fact that the boys are there and they want more and they’re demanding individually from themselves saying, ‘I could have done better, I haven’t done this as well as when we trained’ - that tells you just how much the boys want it.
“We’ll try our best to continue what we’re doing.
“Are you ready to follow 30 passes? And then after regaining the ball, lose it and follow another 30 passes? Yes? If so then you are ready to play Manchester City. It’s that important. If you’re not ready to do that then you cannot play them.
“We are improving, we are competing better and we are understanding how to compete in these games.
“There’s another step to make to win championships and that’s that you have to win. Today we were able to draw and we have to improve a lot still to win.
“[City] are the best team in the world, in my opinion, by far. They have the best manager in the world by far. To catch up and try to better than them is the challenge ahead of us.”
