Arteta: Arsenal players really care

15-Mar-2013 6:10:00 AM

The Spaniard has emphasised that he and his team-mates all remain focused in the fight for fourth place after crashing out of the Champions League dramatically in midweek

Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal's players still have the desire to do well and that they all "care" about the club, despite only having a fourth-place finish to fight for.

Arteta was Arsenal’s captain as they earned an unlikely 2-0 win at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, although the result was not good enough to send Arsenal through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, as they crashed out on away goals.

Now that Arsene Wenger’s men are out of Europe’s premier competition, their season now hinges on whether they can finish in the top four of the Premier League and the Spaniard wants the win in Munich to breed confidence in the Gunners ranks.

"It has to give us confidence," Arteta told reporters. "We have got the characters and the desire, we do really care.

"We have a lot of different nationalities here and sometimes that is a difficult thing to manage. However, in this changing room, I haven’t seen that problem and we are going to fighting until the end.

"We get criticised and some days we really deserve it. After this result, we deserve better."

Arteta also admits Saturday’s game away to Swansea is a must-win for Arsenal as they battle for fourth place.

The Swans won at the Emirates Stadium thanks to two late Michu goals earlier in the season, and the former Everton man has warned his team-mates that they have to be at their best to gain three points.

"For the club and the fans, we cannot afford to be out of the Champions League,” Arteta added. "We haven’t been on the consistency [level] that is required at this football club.

"On Saturday, if we are not at it, we are going to face a really difficult team which is Swansea away from home."