Unai Emery calls on Arsenal to improve their mentality if they wish to finish in the top four

Arsenal boss Unai Emery has ordered his side to improve their mentality if they wish to beat Manchester United and Chelsea to a top four finish.

Arsenal have slipped to sixth place and are a point behind United and a further two behind 4th-placed Chelsea.

Emery’s side have lost three consecutive Premier League away games and failed to win any of their last six on the road and, ahead of Saturday’s visit to bottom side Huddersfield, the Spanish coach has insisted Arsenal’s problems start in the mind.

Unai Emery has ordered his side to improve their mentality if they wish to finish in the top four

Emery said: ‘We started very well away, changing also our mentality to get more points away, but now we need to recover this confidence. We know that defensively we need to do better.

‘Each match is an opportunity. For example, I think we can take better balance when we prepare the matches by thinking it’s going to be very difficult… I spoke with the players [and told them] we need to think this match is very important for us and every player needs to be ready, be focused and be thinking we need to win this match. We need to be ourselves from the first minute, and throughout the 90 minutes but first is the mentality. It’s to think it’s very difficult and it’s the values.

‘For us, tactically, is the second issue. The first is to think we need to win and after it’s how we can win this match – [in terms of] preparing tactically and individually.’

Emery also revealed new signing Denis Suarez went in to train alone at the club’s training ground on Monday as he looks to get up to speed following the Spaniard’s loan move from Barcelona.

Arsenal have slipped to sixth and are a point behind United and a further two behind Chelsea

Emery also revealed Denis Suarez went in to train alone at the club’s training ground

Suarez played 24 minutes as a substitute in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City last weekend and then headed to the club’s training ground the following morning for an extended individual session with Emery’s backroom staff.

Emery added: ‘I hope he will continue, he is improving every day with us. Then I hope he can show in the next matches how he can help us better than in the first match against Manchester City.’

Emery will also be boosted by the return of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to full training and he is available for the game, while Laurent Koscielny and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have overcome sickness.