Football
ESPN staff 7y

Arsenal fans must not be divided - manager Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has urged the club's fans "to be united and not divided" amid their downturn in form.

Arsenal travel to Middlesbrough on Monday night looking to put right a run which has seen them win just four times in 12 matches in all competitions.

Wenger, whose side are seventh in the Premier League table and 10 points off the top four, has also come under pressure with his contract due to expire in the summer.

He said: "The fans want to be behind the team and the way we respond on the football pitch will decide the attitude of the fans.

"The fans love the club. It's a good period to be united and not divided. Historically Arsenal has been about that."

Right-back Hector Bellerin is one of a number of players who have struggled for form of late, but Wenger is confident the 22-year-old will turn things around.

He added: "One of our values is to be together. There's no better period off the season than to show it now.

"Hector is a guy who is genuinely Arsenal and wants to do well. He is ready to play with pain and I think it is yes. He has not come back to his level since he has been injured.

"I think [he has been feeling the ankle] for a while yes. It has completely healed. There has been no surgery as he is completely clear. But you get bad habits and you forget that your job first is to defend and win challenges because you protect yourself a little bit.

"Then you realise you have to come back and I think now he is trying to focus on again what is important, to defend well and after he can give us that extra bit that is important as well.

"I agree that for a while he was not the Hector Bellerin we had seen at the start of the season."

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