Rosicky - If we relax we’ll pay the price

Tomas Rosicky says Arsenal cannot afford to let their foot off the pedal in their quest for Champions League football.

Five straight Premier League wins has left qualification in their own hands with Chelsea three points behind in fourth place and Tottenham just one ahead in third. 

Monday night’s last-gasp win over Newcastle secured a record fourth straight league win from a losing position and Rosicky wants Arsenal to maintain their efforts.

“If we take our foot off the gas then we will pay for it,” he told Arsenal Player. “Newcastle are a good side who are tough to play against, nobody will give you anything for free so we had to fight hard. It is what we are doing and I am enjoying playing in this side very much.

“I think it says a lot, it says that we will not give up easily and that is something special. You don't find these kind of characters often. This team has something special but on the other side we have to find a way to make it a little bit easier for ourselves and not go behind in every game.

“It is difficult to say [what has changed]. We are playing very good football right now and I think you can see that the players just want to win, they don't give up. It is great to play like that if you enjoy yourself on the pitch.

“I am not surprised [we have closed the gap on Tottenham] because I know how it goes. I said about three weeks ago that we should not react to the outside world and just do our jobs. It goes quickly as you can see.

“We are there, just one point behind third place, and we have to carry on like that. If we do that we will be there.”