Arsenal young guns still believe they can win title

It must be the invincibility of youth, either that or Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Wojciech Szczesny have been out in the sun too long. A day after the Gunners practically handed the Premier League title on a plate to Manchester United – courtesy of a clumsy penalty that allowed Liverpool to leave the Emirates with a 1-1 draw – Wilshere and his Polish teammate have taken to the press to issue stirring rallying cries.

Referring to Arsenal's six remaining league encounters, 19-year-old Wilshere trumpeted: "We have six cup finals left. We feel we are still in it. I believe that 100 per cent. If we don't believe then what chance have we got?"

True, but what Wilshere failed to mention was the last real final Arsenal played was the shambolic 2-1 defeat to Birmingham in February's Carling Cup, a result that triggered Arsenal's recent slump in form. Since that humbling experience at Wembley, the Gunners have been knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona, bundled out of the FA Cup by Manchester United, and out of a possible 15 league points they have picked up just seven to leave them six points adrift of the Red Devils.

Not surprisingly the Arsenal faithful have started to lose faith, not just in the players but the manager. Yet Wilshere, who on Sunday won the PFA Young Player of the Year award, had a message to those Gunners supporters still waiting for their first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup. "Maybe the fans are starting not to believe but they are great every week, they are behind us," he said, adding: "We have to repay that. We are confident Man United will drop points. They lost at the weekend [in the FA Cup] and they have a big game in the Champions League coming up. Maybe that can put them off. They still have to come to the Emirates. If we beat them then maybe we can put them on a bad run."

United play Newcastle at St James' Park tonight and then on Wednesday Arsenal travel down the road to White Hart Lane to face a Tottenham side still intent on finishing in the top four and securing an automatic spot for next season's Champions League. Wilshere calls the North London derby "massive" and he knows that anything other than three points will almost certainly end once and for all Arsenal's title aspirations.

Wojciech Szczesny also stressed the importance of tomorrow's clash with Tottenham in an interview with the London Evening Standard. The 20-year-old keeper, recently recovered from a finger injury, told the paper: "Tottenham is a very good match for us to come back from a big disappointment and we owe it to the fans because they're very disappointed about what happened against Liverpool. We owe them a result at White Hart Lane."

Asked if he thought Arsenal could pip United to top spot in the Premier League with just six games left Szczesny exuded confidence, saying: "Of course we still believe we can win the title. We still have to play United and they also have to play Chelsea. They will drop points and we believe we're good enough to win every game remaining"

Few are the Arsenal fans who share their players' faith, and many fear that tomorrow night it will be their hated rivals who apply the coup de grace to yet another season without silverware. ·