Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal are currently "nowhere near"
being involved in the race for the Premier League title – but is setting
his sights on overtaking second-placed Manchester City.
The Gunners are currently third in the table, nine points adrift of leaders Chelsea but just four behind second-placed City.
Manchester
United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Southampton are all in the hunt for
Champions League qualification in what promises to be a thrilling finale
to the season.
Wenger takes his side across London to face
struggling QPR on Wednesday night looking for a seventh win in eight
league games but, even with such a strong run of form, Wenger feels a
push for the title is not currently feasible.
"At the moment we are nowhere near to winning the Premier League, and nowhere near close to being in the race," he said.
"But
what we want is to do as well as we can without speculating on the
weakness of any team. The only thing you can say is that it's very
tight.
"You look in front of you, Manchester City are four points
ahead of us, and you look behind you, there's plenty of people chasing
us.
"That will be very, very tight and it will be down to
consistency in our results and mental strength. That will certainly be
needed again on Wednesday night."
While closing in on Capital One
Cup winners Chelsea seems an outside bet for Wenger, he is hoping a drop
in form from reigning champions City could open up the chance to pip
Manuel Pellegrini's side to second spot.
"At the moment we are too far from Chelsea to say we are in the title race, but you never know what can happen," he added.
"I
speak as well about Man City, why should they give up for the title?
They have done it three years ago by being eight points behind.
"If you ask a team who is four points behind us, they will say it's
realistic to try and catch us. Manchester City are four points in front
of us so mathematically of course that is possible."
Wenger
confirmed Aaron Ramsey is ahead of schedule in recovering from a
hamstring injury and is back in the squad for the trip to Loftus Road.
The
Wales international has not featured since suffering another hamstring
problem on February 10 but is now back in contention, although fellow
midfielder Jack Wilshere remains sidelined.
The 23-year-old had
been closing in on his own return but underwent surgery on his
troublesome ankle and, despite Wenger claiming he would be absent for
days rather than weeks, he confirmed Wilshere will not feature in
neither the QPR contest or Monday's FA Cup sixth-round clash at
Manchester United.
"He is doing well," Wenger said of the England international.
"It
takes some time to heal the wound after the surgery - it will take his a
few days. I don't set any dates, but what is for sure is that for Man
United he will not be available."
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