Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has insisted that his side can cope with the pressure of being involved in the Premier League title race this season.
The Gunners have been backed to make a strong push to clinch the top-flight crown for the first time since the 2003-04 season due to the arrival of Petr Cech and their ability to retain the services of their key players, which Wenger has conceded limited their chances of challenging in the past.
He told reporters: "I believe we are able to handle it and we want to handle it. We enjoy the extra pressure. Before we suffered sometimes from the fact that at the start of the season, nobody considered us at all because we lost our best players. This period is over now so we are happy to be under this kind of pressure.
"We had much more pressure before when I knew I had at least to be in the top four and we did not necessarily have the potential to do it. The pressure is really on you then when you know you are just on the border of achieving what is absolutely requested. When you know you cannot miss an inch or you are out. That is much more difficult.
"I do not look at the pressure as a whole. The pressure is to win the next game and make sure that the team is in a position where they have a chance to win the game, to select the right team. I do not go further than that."
Arsenal open their season against West Ham United on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium.
Simon Sinclair
