Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker: "Not the end of the world"

Arsenal centre-back Per Mertesacker has insisted that it is "not the end of the world" after the Gunners suffered a third straight loss for the first time in almost six years this evening.

Swansea City were the visitors to the Emirates Stadium and the Welsh strugglers pulled off a surprise by fighting back from a goal down to win 2-1.

With the other sides in the top four all dropping points in midweek, Arsenal missed the chance to reignite their title hopes after Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Manchester United.

"We tried really hard," Mertesacker told Sky Sports News. "The effort was there tonight. We played quite well but always missed the last pass and hit the post a couple of times, but it's not the end of the world.

"We wanted a better result than against Manchester United, but it was the small margins that cost us. We lost the game on one set piece and we needed to defend better. You could feel that we were nervous out there at the end of the game.

"We have to recover quickly before Saturday and that's the only thing we are thinking of."

Arsenal go to Tottenham Hotspur for a crunch match on Saturday trailing their North London rivals by three points in the table.