Per Mertesacker has refused to give up his place in the Arsenal first team despite having found himself confined to the substitutes bench in recent weeks.
The German World Cup-winner has not appeared in any of Arsenal’s last three games, with Arsene Wenger having seemingly decided that Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel will be his first-choice centre-back pairing.
Arsenal have kept clean sheets in each of their last two games, scoring six in the process and with Wenger hailing the balance of a side whose defensive stability has been drastically improved by the presence of Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny shielding the back four.
With Mertesacker set to celebrate his 32nd birthday early next season time does not appear to be on the centre-back’s side. His campaign has already been disrupted by a severe chest infection that caused him to miss over a month of football in August and September, whilst he has missed half of Arsenal’s 14 games since his red card against Chelsea in late January.
However Arsenal’s vice-captain is loath to give up hopes of returning to the starting lineup.
"I've got to admit it is new to me," Mertesacker told Sport1.de. "I've been around a long time now and this has not so often been the case, but I'm in good spirits, am fit and I have no pain.
"Of course I'm playing less, but I'm sticking at it. Maybe I'll get another chance. Things change quickly nowadays. You get ups and downs as a footballer and you've just got to remain professional, and I've always been that down the years.
"That's why I've survived for so long in this business. I listen closely to what the coach says and he knows that he can count on me, no matter what happens.
"I want to show him in every training session that I'm ready when needed. The team needs every player, whether I'm on the bench now or not - I don't just write it off. I always look ahead positively and that is the best way to get over the disappointment of not playing."
A 4-0 victory over Watford kept Arsenal 11 points off league leaders Leicester, who enjoyed their fourth consecutive 1-0 win as they defeated Southampton on Sunday, albeit with a game in hand over the Foxes.
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Mertesacker echoed the words of his manager, who maintains that Arsenal are not out of the title race if they can win all of their remaining games.
Arsenal's Premier League run-in
"It's not totally over yet," he told German website sport1.de. "If we win all of our matches, then we've got a good chance.
"We've got to keep focusing on that and that's why we're taking things game by game. We're trying to concentrate fully on our next game against West Ham.
“We have a bit more time now that we're not in any other competition so we don't have to concentrate on anything else, other than the title."
