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Stuart Jamieson

Mikel Arteta sends defiant Arsenal message, Brendan Rodgers hails 'icon' Jamie Vardy

Here are the latest Premier League headlines for Tuesday, May 17.

Arteta's defiant message

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has insisted he does not have to tell his players what is at stake as they attempt to revive their fading Champions League hopes. The Gunners entertain relegation-threatened Everton on Sunday knowing even victory might not be enough to secure a top-four Premier League finish after Monday night's costly 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.

That left them two points adrift of arch-rivals Tottenham, whose superior goal difference means a draw at relegated Norwich, barring a cricket score at the Emirates Stadium, will be enough to keep their neighbours at bay.

A defiant Arteta said: "We will still have five days to prepare for that match. We know what we have to do. There's not a lot of words that are needed after the performance."

READ MORE: Marsch reaches out to Gerrard and Howe with a final-week Leeds United plea

Vardy is a Premier League 'icon'

Brendan Rodgers has branded Jamie Vardy a Premier League "icon" on the eve of the striker's 10-year anniversary of signing for Leicester. Vardy joined the Foxes for just £1million from Fleetwood on May 18 2012 and has gone on to hit 163 goals for the club, picking up a title winner's medal and an FA Cup along the way.

The 35-year-old's rise from non-league is football's ultimate rags to riches tale, and Vardy proved there are plenty more chapters to write by marking his recent return from injury with four goals in his last two games.

"I think he's a real icon of Leicester and of the league," said Foxes boss Rodgers. "I think his journey - coming into professional football at 25 and scoring his first Premier League goal at 27, to go on and score the goals he has and to have the impact he has had, he is such a unique player.

"We've seen it before with other players like Ian Wright coming through and playing at the highest level. But Jamie's story, from playing FA Cup qualifiers to going on to win the FA Cup and win the Premier League, to playing in the Champions League, he really is a great of this football club but also the Premier League, you put him up there with the top strikers.

"Thankfully you've seen him in his last few games, he's now getting his fitness. Unfortunately for us he hasn't been able to play as much as we'd have liked this season. But you see the impact he would have had on our team. His pace is still there, his cuteness, his cleverness and his bravery is still very much there. Clearly he was a good signing for the club back then and £1m looks an absolute bargain 10 years later."

Wolves facing key summer

John Ruddy admits Wolves face a summer of transition after missing out on Europe. The goalkeeper, out of contact in the summer, made his first Premier League appearance of the season in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Norwich. It ended the club's hopes of returning to Europe next term and Ruddy knows changes are needed.

"As a club, it's no secret that it's going to be a big summer, a summer of transition. This group's been together since I've been here, for five years, and has done exceptionally well," he told the club's official site. "I don't think we get enough credit as a group, what we've done over the period of time. It's going to be a big summer and the club need a way forward and a plan of what they want to do. On a personal level I'm not sure, it's in the club's hands, so I'll wait and see what they say."

Wolves recovered from falling behind to Teemu Pukki's opener to level through Rayan Ait-Nouri's second-half header. Already-relegated Norwich remain bottom but Pukki, who scored his 11th goal of the season, was pleased to end a run of five straight defeats.

He told the club's official site: "There had been too many losses in a row. We wanted to get something out of the game and we did that. We wanted to win, but at least we got the one point. Specifically, the first half I thought it was a good game. We created loads of chances and we could have scored more. Second half was a bit more of a fight and I think that was something we had to do after the losses."

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