Aaron Ramsdale believes “depleted” Arsenal can get back to their best after a mini-break and win the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four, which he has likened to the Championship play-off fight.
Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by Burnley on Sunday, which means they missed out on the chance to go fourth in the table.
The Gunners, who had four players on their bench yesterday without any Premier League experience at all, are stretched at the moment and their break until February 10 has come at a welcome time.
The race to qualify for the Champions League is also proving incredibly tight, with just four points separating eighth-placed Wolves and Manchester United in fourth.
“I think we have just been short in a few games really. The Man City one on New Year’s Day, we just fell short,” said Ramsdale.
“Yesterday [against Burnley], we just fell short with a goal, and then obviously in the cups anything can happen. But we are there, we are close, we just need to get back to a mini-run and you never know with momentum at the end of the season.
“We are almost looking at it as sort of a promotion push in the Championship and try and get into those play-offs - which is ultimately the top four for us.
“Popey (Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope) has made a few good saves, especially the one off Emile [Smith Rowe] from the corner.
“And we are at the moment depleted and the lads have played a lot of minutes. I don’t want to make an excuse for that.
“I think we had two defenders on the bench, one striker, and the rest 18, 19-year-olds who haven’t played for us before. I think it was similar for them.
“They’ve not played for a long time in the Premier League and they still haven’t got a number of players back from injury or illness.
“So we can’t underplay it but it is the same for everyone in all the leagues and, one result for us or a couple of results for us, we won’t rest our laurels on that sort of excuse.
“We have got time to regroup now and we’ve got Wolves when we get back after the mini-break.”
