Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta has admitted that the league title may be out of the club's reach this season.
Following Sunday's 1-0 loss to Manchester City, the Gunners trail the Blues by 12 points in the Premier League table.
The Spaniard is not totally writing off Arsenal's chances, but has insisted that people connected with the club must be "realistic".
"I think we need to be realistic," he told the club's official website.
"It will be really tough to [make up] 12 points on Man City from here until the end of the season because they haven't dropped many points until now. But you never know in football. We can only go game by game and try to put pressure on them.
"The main thing is to focus on the football. We know that if we get through this period and get all the points then we will have a really good chance to be fighting for something at the end of the season. We know how important that is for the club."
The 29-year-old joined Arsenal from Everton in August.
