LONDON - Arsene Wenger maintains his young side have recovered from their European "hangover" and can put Arsenal's drive for the Barclays Premier League title back on track.
Despite dumping holders AC Milan out of the Champions League with a superb display in the San Siro last week, the Gunners have secured only one victory in six games - with their last three domestic matches ending in draws.
That dip in form has allowed Manchester United to claw back their deficit to just two points, and now with a match in hand. Chelsea, meanwhile, have recorded successive wins to remain in the hunt.
By the time Arsenal kick off at Emirates Stadium against relegation-battlers Middlesbrough in tomorrow's early evening game, they could well be knocked off the summit once again.
Wenger's men are now entering a crucial phase of their campaign, as matches against both United and Chelsea are to come - not to mention three clashes with Liverpool in the space of a week following today's Champions League quarter-final draw.
However, the Arsenal manager is in no doubt his team can deliver.
"I believe between the two legs [against Milan] there was a hangover, because we were desperate to go through and the first result created an uncertainty and we dropped maybe two points from that, which shows you how strong you have to be to deal with both competitions," Wenger said.
"I believe the players want genuinely to do well in both competitions - do not forget we have lost just one game since the beginning of the season in the championship, then in the Champions League we have lost just one as well and when we had already qualified.
"So we are entitled to believe we can do well in both competitions.
"This team has fantastic strength. It is down to us and our performances.
"This is a very interesting period for us because the next month will tell us more about the teams - and I am very confident on my side that we will show how strong we are."
Wenger maintained: "I am not concerned [about three draws] because they were down to special circumstances.
"For me, Birmingham was a big accident and Wigan, after such a high against Milan, it was difficult to switch on again."
The Gunners boss stressed all focus must now be on getting the right result tomorrow against Boro - the only side to have beaten Arsenal in the Premier League back in December.
Yet with the margin for error so small at the top of the table, Wenger accepts the title race looks set to go to the wire.
"At the moment all three teams - Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea - feel that it is in their hands," he said.
"So we want to focus immediately - we aren't sitting there waiting for the Liverpool game, we are focusing on tomorrow.
"That will help us when we play Liverpool if we are in a good shape in the championship, then we can play with less pressure."
Wenger, though, realises a campaign that promised so much could effectively be defined over the next three weeks.
"At some stage when you fight for the big prizes you get into March, April, every game can change your season from fantastic to super-fantastic to terrible," reflected the Arsenal manager.
"That is what you want, but what would be terrible is not to fight for the championship and be out of the Champions League."
Wenger could hand fit-again striker Robin van Persie a start against Boro.
The Dutchman, 24, returned to action as a second-half substitute at the JJB Stadium last weekend following the latest lay-off of what has been an injury-plagued campaign.
It was a first appearance since January 9 for van Persie, who opened the season in superb form with seven goals from 11 games before being hampered by knee and muscle problems.
With Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva set to miss the run-in because of a broken leg, the return of van Persie could just help kick-start the Gunners again.
Wenger said: "Robin can give you the final ball, score free-kicks, he is dangerous on corners and he can score.
"He can give us the final push."
