Aaron Ramsdale says the Arsenal squad have a “fire burning inside” after painfully missing out to Tottenham in the race to qualify for the Champions League last season.
Arsenal had been in pole position to finish in the top four last season as, with three games to go, they were four points clear of rivals Tottenham in fifth.
Spurs, however, beat Arsenal 3-0 and eventually pipped them to Champions League qualification on the final day of the season.
Ramsdale has revealed how the Gunners are using that as motivation this year and they beat Tottenham 3-1 on Saturday to stay top of the Premier League after eight games.
“The experiences at the end last season are adding to our team spirit and mentality,” said Ramsdale.
“It’s not just the lads who have come in who have brought this winning mentality. We all have this fire burning inside because of what happened at the end of last season.
“We spoke about it before the game [against Tottenham on Saturday], to play the game and not the occasion and that’s what we did.
“After the international break it was huge for us to get three points. We’ve a tough run until the World Cup so, yeah it was a lovely afternoon and the fans can celebrate over the weekend.
“It’s huge. Every game is tough in the Premier League. At the minute there are some results right now that you wouldn’t think would be happening in today’s games.
“Every game is tough, but when it’s a local rival and also a rival at the top of the table, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”
Arsenal are top of the Premier League, but Ramsdale has said the squad are looking to fight for honours in the Carabao Cup and Europa League too - which is adding to competition for places in the starting XI.
“The people who potentially aren’t playing on a Saturday have been playing games in the Europe League,” he added.
“We’ve had a few injuries so we’ve had people coming in and filling in for Premier League games.
“We’ve got three competitions, I think it’s 14 games before the World Cup, so everyone is going to play and we need everyone to play because we want to win every match.”
