Albert Sambi Lokonga calls for Arsenal to ‘believe’ after Champions League hopes take another major blow

Arsenal star Albert Sambi Lokonga urged his teammates to continue to ‘believe’ as their chase for Champions League football took another dent with a fourth loss in the space of five matches.

Despite having 23 shots on goal, the Gunners suffered a defeat could prove costly given North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur were also on the wrong end of a 1-0 result against Brighton.

The midfielder told arsenal.com : “I think everybody in the dressing room knows that it's not enough for the moment but we need to stick together and get back to winning ways.

“We need to believe, I think that's the first thing. We need to stick together. We've been through this so we can do it again.

“They (the fans) are always behind us so we need to say thank you to them and we need them. They need to stay behind us because we will turn this (around).'

Arsenal have long been described as one of the big four clubs in English football but they have been conspicuous by their absence from the Champions League since 2016/17.

A visibly dejected Mikel Arteta will need to rally his troops ahead of an important week as Wednesday evening’s visit to Chelsea will be followed by a Saturday lunchtime kick-off against fellow Champions League aspirants, Manchester United.

With such a lack of success in front of a goal, it was been no surprise to hear whether Alexander Lacazette would be brought back into the fold.

Mikel Arteta had been notably cautious in his briefings to the press regarding the Frenchman after he was reportedly absent from training prior to the Southampton match, and it was to later emerge that the striker had tested positive for Covid-19.

Pressed as to whether Lacazette would appear in the next two matches, Arteta said: “ It will depend